Regulatory elements from labyrinthulomycetes microorganisms

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure generally relates to novel polynucleotide molecules for use in regulating gene expression in recombinant cells, such as labyrinthulomycetes cells. The disclosure further relates to nucleic acid constructs, such as vectors and expression cassettes, containing a regulatory element operably linked to a heterologous nucleotide sequence. The disclosure further relates to methods for stably transforming a host cell, such as a labyrinthulomycetes cell with transgenes. Stably transformed recombinant cells, progeny, biomaterials derived therefrom, and methods for preparing and using the same are also provided.

CROSS-REFERENCED TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/127,196; filed on Mar. 2, 2015, the content of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.

INCORPORATION OF THE SEQUENCE LISTING

The material in the accompanying sequence listing is hereby incorporated by reference into this application. The accompanying sequence listing text file, name SGI-002A_Sequence Listing, was created on Feb. 12, 2016 and is 257 KB. The file can be assessed using Microsoft Word on a computer that uses Windows OS.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of molecular biology and genetic engineering, and more specifically relates to polynucleotide molecules useful for controlling expression of gene sequences in vitro and in vivo in recombinant cells, particularly labyrinthulomycetes cells.

BACKGROUND

Recent advances in biotechnology and molecular biology offer tremendous opportunities to develop biotech organisms with commercially desirable characteristics or traits. In particular, modern genetic engineering techniques have greatly accelerated the introduction of new genes and hence new traits into recombinant cells and organisms, particularly microbial organisms. The proper expression of a desirable transgene in a transgenic organism is widely considered to be a requisite requirement to achieve this goal. For example, expression of a gene in a recombinant cell that does not normally express such a gene may confer a desirable phenotypic effect. In another example, transcription of a gene or part of a gene in an antisense orientation may produce a desirable effect by preventing or inhibiting expression of an endogenous gene. Moreover, for production of recombinant cells and organisms with various desired characteristics, it would be advantageous to have a variety of promoters to provide gene expression such that a gene sequence can be transcribed efficiently in the amount necessary to produce the desired effect.

Furthermore, as the field of microbial transgenesis rapidly develops and more genes become accessible, a greater need exists for microorganisms transformed with multiple genes. In fact, the commercial development of genetically improved organisms has advanced to the stage of introducing multiple heterologous genes and traits into a single recombinant cell. These multiple heterologous genes typically need to be transcriptionally controlled by diverse regulatory sequences. For example, some transgenes need to be expressed in a constitutive manner whereas other genes should be expressed at certain developmental stages or in specific compartments of the transgenic cell. In addition, multiple regulatory sequences may be needed in order to avoid undesirable molecular interactions which can result from using the same regulatory sequence to control more than one transgene. In light of these and other considerations, it is apparent that optimal control of gene expression and regulatory element diversity are important in modern recombinant biotechnology.

However, despite the availability of many molecular tools, the genetic modification of recombinant organisms is often constrained by an insufficient expression level or temporally nonspecific expression of the engineered transgenes. In addition, while previous technological advancements have provided a number of regulatory elements that can be used to affect gene expression in transgenic organisms, there is still a great need for novel regulatory elements with beneficial expression characteristics. One example of this is the need for regulatory elements capable of driving gene expression preferentially in different microbial growth phases. On the other hand, there also exists a continuing need for regulatory elements capable of driving gene expression constitutively throughout cell life cycle and/or unaffected by growth conditions, as well as at low, moderate, high, or very high transcription levels. Thus, the identification of novel molecular tools including genes, vectors, regulatory elements that function in various types of organisms and in distinct growth phases and growth conditions will be useful in developing genetically enhanced organisms.

SUMMARY

This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not comprehensive of its full scope or all of its features.

In one aspect, an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule is provided in which the isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule includes a nucleic acid sequence hybridizing under high stringency conditions to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of any one or more of SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202, and complements thereof; or exhibiting at least 80% sequence identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of any one of SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202, and complements thereof. In some examples, the invention provides a nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90% or at least 95% to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202 operably linked to a heterologous nucleic acid sequence, such as a heterologous nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide or functional RNA. A nucleic acid sequence as provided herein having at least 80% sequence identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of any one or more of SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202 can have at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99%, or 100% identity to at least 50, at least 100, at least 150, at least 200, at least 250, at least 300, at least 350, at least 400, at least 450, at least 500, at least 550, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, at least 750, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, at least 950, or at least 1000 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202. In some examples, a nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can comprise a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 50, at least 100, at least 150, at least 200, at least 250, at least 300, at least 350, at least 400, at least 450, at least 500, at least 550, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, at least 750, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, at least 950, or at least 1000 contiguous nucleotides extending from the 3′ end of any one of SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202. A nucleic acid sequence as provided herein having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 50, at least 100, at least 150, at least 200, at least 250, at least 300, at least 350, at least 400, at least 450, at least 500, at least 550, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, at least 750, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, at least 950, or at least 1000 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202 can have promoter activity. The isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule can include a heterologous nucleic acid sequence operably linked to the nucleic acid sequence having at least 80% sequence identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202.

In some embodiments, an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein includes a nucleic acid sequence hybridizing under high stringency conditions to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199, and complements thereof; or exhibiting at least 80% sequence identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199, and complements thereof. For example, the isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule can include a nucleic acid sequence hybridizing under high stringency conditions to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199, and complements thereof; or exhibiting at least 80% sequence identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199, and complements thereof. The nucleic acid sequence according to any of the above can have promoter activity. The isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule can include a heterologous nucleic acid sequence operably linked to the nucleic acid sequence having at least 80% sequence identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199. The heterologous nucleic acid sequence can be a DNA sequence encoding a polypeptide or functional RNA. Alternatively or in addition, the isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can be a vector.

In some examples, a nucleic acid molecule as provided herein includes a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 50, at least 100, at least 150, at least 200, at least 250, at least 300, at least 350, at least 400, at least 450, at least 500, at least 550, at least 600, at least 650, or at least 700 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:63, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:70, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199. The nucleic acid sequence can have promoter activity. The isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule can include a heterologous nucleic acid sequence operably linked to the nucleic acid sequence having at least 80% sequence identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:63, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:70, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, and SEQ ID NO:199. The heterologous nucleic acid sequence can be a DNA sequence encoding a polypeptide or functional RNA. Alternatively or in addition, the isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can be a vector.

In some embodiments, an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as disclosed herein includes at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of any one or more of SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202, and complements thereof. In some examples, an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as disclosed herein can be selected from the group consisting of an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule can comprise a nucleic acid sequence comprising at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, and SEQ ID NO:199. In some examples, an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as disclosed herein can comprise a nucleic acid sequence comprising at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:63, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, and SEQ ID NO:199.

In some examples, a nucleic acid molecule can include a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 100, at least 200, at least 300, at least 400, at least 500, at least 650, at least 700, at least 750, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, or at least 950 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199. In some examples, a nucleic acid molecule can include a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 100, at least 200, at least 300, at least 400, at least 500, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, at least 750, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, or at least 950 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199; and the nucleic acid molecule can exhibit promoter activity. A nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can include a heterologous nucleic acid sequence operably linked to a sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 100 bp of SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199. Alternatively or in addition, the nucleic acid molecule can be a vector that includes a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 100, at least 200, at least 300, at least 400, at least 500, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, at least 750, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, or at least 950 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, or SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, and SEQ ID NO:199.

In some examples, a nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can comprise an actin promoter, for example can include a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 100, at least 200, at least 300, at least 400, at least 500, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, or at least 750 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO: 62, or SEQ ID NO:63. For example a promoter as provided herein can have at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO: 62, or SEQ ID NO:63. In other examples, a nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can comprise an alpha tubulin promoter, for example can include a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 100, at least 200, at least 300, at least 400, at least 500, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, or least 950 or at least 1000 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:23, or SEQ ID NO:59. For example a promoter as provided herein can have at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:23, or SEQ ID NO:59.

In further examples a nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can comprise a promoter having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 100, at least 200, at least 300, at least 400, at least 500, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, or least 950 or at least 1000 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, SEQ ID NO:199, or SEQ ID NO:183. For example, a nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can comprise a promoter having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 100, at least 200, at least 300, at least 400, at least 500, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, or least 950 or at least 1000 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, SEQ ID NO:199, or SEQ ID NO:183. In some examples, the promoter provided in a nucleic acid molecule may be confer high levels of expression to a gene to which it is operably linked under lipogenic culture conditions, and may be, for example, a promoter having at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 100, at least 200, at least 300, at least 400, at least 500, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, or least 950 or at least 1000 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID 198, SEQ ID NO:183, or SEQ ID NO:191. For example, a nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can include a promoter having at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to SEQ ID 198 or SEQ ID NO:183.

In yet additional examples, a nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can comprise a promoter having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 100, at least 200, at least 300, at least 400, at least 500, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, or least 950 or at least 1000 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:199 or SEQ ID NO:196. In some examples, the promoter provided in a nucleic acid molecule may be confer high levels of expression to a gene to which it is operably linked under lipogenic culture conditions as well as under nutrient replete growth conditions, and may be, for example, a promoter having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to SEQ ID 199 or SEQ ID NO:196.

In some embodiments, an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as disclosed herein can find use, for example, as a sequence that, when operably linked to a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide or a functional RNA, can effect expression of the nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide or a functional RNA. In some embodiments, the isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule disclosed herein is a promoter. In some embodiments, the promoter is functional in a labyrinthulomycetes cell.

Some embodiments disclosed herein relate to a nucleic acid construct in which an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein is operably linked to a heterologous nucleic acid sequence. For example, a construct as provided herein can include a nucleic acid sequence as described herein, in which the nucleic acid sequence comprises a promoter that is operably linked to a heterologous nucleic acid sequence. In some embodiments, the heterologous nucleic acid sequence includes a regulatory element. In some embodiments, the heterologous regulatory element includes a 5′-untranslated (UTR) sequence. In some embodiments, a nucleic acid construct as disclosed herein includes a nucleic acid sequence as disclosed herein, for example, a nucleic acid as disclosed herein that comprises a promoter, in which the promoter is operably linked to a heterologous nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide or a functional RNA. In some embodiments, the heterologous nucleic acid sequence encodes a functional RNA such as, for example, a ribosomal RNA, a tRNA, a ribozyme, a trans-activating (tr) RNA of a CRISPR system, a targeting or crispr (cr) RNA of a CRISPR system, a chimeric guide RNA of a CRISPR system, a micro RNA, an interfering RNA (RNAi) molecule, a short hairpin (sh) RNA, or an antisense RNA molecule. In some embodiments, the heterologous nucleic acid sequence is also operably linked to a terminator sequence. In some embodiments, the terminator includes a sequence having at least 90% or 95% sequence identity to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:71-78. In some embodiments, the terminator is selected from the group consisting of Saccharomyces cerevisiae ADH1 terminator, S. cerevisiae ENO2 terminator, S. cerevisiae PDC1 terminator, S. cerevisiae PGK1 terminator, S. cerevisiae TDH3 terminator, S. cerevisiae TEF1 terminator, S. cerevisiae CYC1 terminator, and simian virus SV40 terminator. In some embodiments, the nucleic acid construct is functional in a labyrinthulomycetes cell. In some embodiments, the nucleic acid construct as provided herein is further defined as an expression cassette or a vector.

Some embodiments disclosed herein relate to a nucleic acid construct in which an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein is operably linked to heterologous nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide or a functional RNA which, when expressed in a recombinant cell, directly or indirectly confers a phenotype or trait. The phenotype or trait can be selected from the group consisting of abiotic stress resistance; disease resistance; herbicide tolerance, toxin tolerance; altered carbohydrate content; altered cell wall composition, altered growth rate, altered isoprenoid content; altered amino acid content; altered biomass yield; altered fatty acid/lipid content; altered nitrogen utilization; altered photosynthetic capacity, altered activity of a polyunsaturated fatty acid-polyketide synthase (PUFA-PKS) complex; altered activity of an elongase/desaturase fatty acid synthase (FAS) pathway; and production of a biopolymer, a biofuel molecule, an enzyme, a flavor compound, a pharmaceutical compound, a pigment, an antioxidant, or a heterologous polypeptide. In some embodiments the nucleic acid molecule as provided herein comprises a promoter that is operably linkded to a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide that may be, as nonlimiting examples, a transcription factor, an enzyme, or a transporter. In some embodiments, the polypeptide or the functional RNA is involved in a synthetic pathway for the production of a fatty acid or lipid.

Some embodiments disclosed herein relate to a nucleic acid construct in which an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein is operably linked to a heterologous nucleic acid sequence encoding a selectable marker or a reporter gene. In some embodiments, the heterologous nucleic acid sequence encoding a selectable marker can be a gene encoding a polypeptide that confers resistance to an antibiotic, a polypeptide that confers tolerance to an herbicide, a gene encoding an auxotrophic marker, or any other gene product that can allow for selection of transformants. In some embodiments, the heterologous nucleic acid sequence encoding a reporter gene can, for example, encode a fluorescent protein or an enzyme that can produce a detectable product. In some embodiments, the heterologous nucleic acid sequence encoding a selectable marker or a reporter gene selected from the group consisting of a gene conferring resistance to an antibiotic, a gene conferring resistance to an herbicide, a gene encoding acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACCase), a gene encoding acetohydroxy acid synthase (ahas), a gene encoding acetolactate synthase, a gene encoding aminoglycoside phosphotransferase, a gene encoding anthranilate synthase, a gene encoding bromoxynil nitrilase, a gene encoding cytochrome P450-NADH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase, a gene encoding dalapon dehalogenase, a gene encoding dihydropteroate synthase, a gene encoding a class I 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), a gene encoding a class II EPSPS (aroA), a gene encoding a non-class I II EPSPS, a gene encoding glutathione reductase, a gene encoding glyphosate acetyltransferase, a gene encoding glyphosate oxidoreductase, a gene encoding hydroxyphenylpyruvate dehydrogenase, a gene encoding hydroxy-phenylpyruvate dioxygenase, a gene encoding isoprenyl pyrophosphate isomerase, a gene encoding lycopene cyclase, a gene encoding phosphinothricin acetyl transferase, a gene encoding phytoene desaturase, a gene encoding prenyl transferase, a gene encoding protoporphyrin oxidase, a gene encoding superoxide dismutase, arg7, his3, hisD, hisG, manA, nit1, trpB, uidA, xylA, a dihydrofolate reductase gene, a mannose-6-phosphate isomerase gene, a nitrate reductase gene, an ornithine decarboxylase gene, a thymidine kinase gene, a 2-deoxyglucose resistance gene; and an R-locus gene.

In one aspect, some embodiments disclosed herein relate to a method of transforming a eukaryotic cell that includes introducing into a eukaryotic cell a nucleic acid molecule as provided herein, and selecting or screening for a transformed eukaryotic cell. In some embodiments, the nucleic acid molecule is introduced into the eukaryotic cell by a biolistic procedure or electroporation.

In a related aspect, some embodiments disclosed herein relate to a recombinant eukaryotic cell produced by a transformation method that includes introducing into a eukaryotic cell a nucleic acid molecule disclosed herein, and selecting or screening for a transformed eukaryotic cell. Some embodiments disclosed herein relate to a recombinant eukaryotic cell that includes an isolated, recombinant, or synthetic nucleic acid molecule as provided herein. In some embodiments, the nucleic acid molecule is stably integrated into the genome of the recombinant cell. As described in great detail herein, a continuing need exists for the identification of additional regulatory control elements for expression of transgenes in labyrinthulomycetes microorganisms, including regulatory control elements that are differentially expressed, for example, during different time points or under certain growth conditions, or in response to chemical or environmental stimuli. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the recombinant cell belongs to the class labyrinthulomycetes. In some embodiments, the labyrinthulomycetes microorganism is an Aplanochytrium, an Aurantiochytrium, a Diplophrys, a Japonochytrium, an Oblongichytrium, a Schizochytrium, a Thraustochytrium, or an Ulkenia microorganism.

In a further aspect, some embodiments disclosed herein relate to an amplification reaction mixture that includes primers adapted for amplifying a nucleic acid including at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos:1-70, SEQ ID Nos:180-202, complements thereof, and nucleic acids exhibiting at least 80% sequence identity thereto.

In yet a further aspect, some embodiments disclosed herein relate to a ligation reaction mixture that includes a nucleic acid including at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos:1-70, SEQ ID Nos:180-202, complements thereof, and nucleic acids exhibiting at least 80% sequence identity thereto.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, objects and features of the disclosure will become fully apparent from the drawings and the following detailed description and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.

FIG. 1 is plasmid map for expression vector pSGI-JU-74 used to make promoter expression constructs described in Examples 3 and 7.

FIG. 2 is plasmid map for expression vector pSGI-JU-79 used to make promoter expression constructs described in Example 3.

FIG. 3 is a representation of fluorescence microscopic images analyzing TurboGFP signals for labyrinthulomycetes colonies that were transformed with expression constructs in which TurboGFP expression was placed under control of various promoters. For each construct, the promoter sequence is indicated by the construct name as provided in TABLE 2. Fluorescent signals were detected and/or quantified using a Typhoon FLA 9000 system (GE Healthcare Life Sciences). All scanning and image analysis were done using the ImageQuant software with the same settings/values.

FIG. 4 is a representation of fluorescence microscopic images analyzing TurboGFP signals for labyrinthulomycetes colonies that were transformed with expression constructs in which TurboGFP expression was placed under control of various promoters and terminators. For each construct, the promoter and terminator are indicated by a ‘P-’ or ‘T-’, respectively, in front of the construct name. Fluorescent signals were detected and/or quantified using a Typhoon FLA 9000 system (GE Healthcare Life Sciences). All scanning and image analysis were done using the ImageQuant software with the same settings/values.

FIG. 5 graphically summarizes the results from experiments evaluating the ability of three candidate lipogenic promoters to control expression of the reporter gene TurboGFP during lipogenic phase. Samples were taken at 0-hr, 24-hr, and 48-hr time points and average fluorescence on the green channel (TurboGFP) in each sample was assessed using the Guava flow cytometer. Control cells were wild type chytrid cells (WH-06267) and transgenic chytrid cells carrying a TurboGFP reporter gene expressed under control of α-tubulin promoter. In this experiment, the cultures were grown in FM006 medium instead of FM005.

FIG. 6 graphically summarizes the results from experiments evaluating the ability of three candidate lipogenic promoters to control expression of the reporter gene TurboGFP during lipogenic phase. Samples were taken at 0-hr, 2-hr, 24-hr, and 48-hr time points and average fluorescence on the green channel (TurboGFP) in each sample was assessed using the Guava flow cytometer. Control cells were wild type chytrid cells (WH-06267) and transgenic chytrid cells carrying a TurboGFP reporter gene expressed under control of α-tubulin promoter.

FIG. 7 graphically summarizes the results from experiments evaluating the ability of three candidate lipogenic promoters to control expression of the reporter gene TurboGFP during lipogenic phase. Samples were taken at 0-hr, 2-hr, 24-hr, and 48-hr time points and average fluorescence on the green channel (TurboGFP) in each sample was assessed using the Guava flow cytometer. Control cells were wild type chytrid cells (WH-06267) and transgenic chytrid cells carrying a TurboGFP reporter gene expressed under control of α-tubulin promoter.

The foregoing and other features of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with the disclosure and are not to be considered limiting of its scope; the disclosure will be described with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to compositions, methods and related materials for use in genetic engineering of organisms. In particular, the disclosure provides methods and materials useful for affecting gene expression in vivo and/or in vitro. Some embodiments disclosed herein relate to isolated, recombinant, or synthetic nucleic acid molecules having transcriptional regulatory activity such as, for example, regulatory elements. Some embodiments disclosed herein relate to methods for modifying, making, and using such regulatory elements. Some embodiments disclosed herein relate to recombinant cells, methods for making and using same, and biomaterials derived therefrom.

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings, similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be used, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented here. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the Figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and make part of this disclosure.

A. Some Definitions

Unless otherwise defined, all terms of art, notations and other scientific terms or terminology used herein are intended to have the meanings commonly understood by those of skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. In some cases, terms with commonly understood meanings are defined herein for clarity and/or for ready reference, and the inclusion of such definitions herein should not necessarily be construed to represent a substantial difference over what is generally understood in the art. Many of the techniques and procedures described or referenced herein are well understood and commonly employed using conventional methodology by those skilled in the art.

The singular form “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, the term “a molecule” includes one or more molecules, including mixtures thereof. “A and/or B” is used herein to include all of the following alternatives: “A”, “B”, and “A and B”.

The term “about”, as used herein, means either: within plus or minus 10% of the provided value, or rounded to the nearest significant figure, in all cases inclusive of the provided value. Where ranges are provided, they are inclusive of the boundary values.

The terms, “cells”, “cell cultures”, “cell line”, “recombinant host cells”, “recipient cells” and “host cells” as used herein, include the primary subject cells and any progeny thereof, without regard to the number of transfers. It should be understood that not all progeny are exactly identical to the parental cell (due to deliberate or inadvertent mutations or differences in environment); however, such altered progeny are included in these terms, so long as the progeny retain the same functionality as that of the originally transformed cell.

As used herein, the term “construct” is intended to mean any recombinant nucleic acid molecule such as an expression cassette, plasmid, cosmid, virus, autonomously replicating polynucleotide molecule, phage, or linear or circular, single-stranded or double-stranded, DNA or RNA polynucleotide molecule, derived from any source, capable of genomic integration or autonomous replication, comprising a nucleic acid molecule where one or more nucleic acid sequences has been linked in a functionally operative manner, e.g. operably linked.

A “control organism”, “control microorganism”, or “control cell” as used herein, refers to an organism, microorganism, or cell that is substantially identical to the subject organism, microorganism, or cell, except for the engineered genetic manipulation disclosed for the subject organism, microorganism, or cell, and can provide a reference point for measuring changes in phenotype of the subject organism or cell. “Substantially identical” thus includes, for example, small random variations in genome sequence (“SNPs”) that are not relevant to the genotype, phenotype, parameter, or gene expression level that is of interest in the subject microorganism. Depending on specific purposes of their use, a control organism or cell may comprise, for example, (a) a progenitor strain or species, cell or microorganism population, or organism, with respect to the subject organism, microorganism, or cell, where the progenitor lacks the genetically engineered constructs or alterations that were introduced into the progenitor strain, species, organism, or cell or microorganism population to generate the subject organism, microorganism, or cell; b) a wild-type organism or cell, e.g., of the same genotype as the starting material for the genetic alteration which resulted in the subject organism or cell; (c) an organism or cell of the same genotype as the starting material but which has been transformed with a null construct (e.g. a construct which has no known effect on the trait of interest, such as a construct comprising a reporter gene); (d) an organism or cell which is a non-transformed segregant among progeny of a subject organism, microorganism, or cell; or (e) the subject organism or cell itself, under conditions in which the gene of interest is not expressed. In some instances, “control organism” may refer to an organism that does not contain the exogenous nucleic acid present in the transgenic organism of interest, but otherwise has the same or very similar genetic background as such a transgenic organism.

As used herein, “exogenous” with respect to a nucleic acid or gene indicates that the nucleic or gene has been introduced (“transformed”) into an organism, microorganism, or cell by human intervention. Typically, such an exogenous nucleic acid is introduced into a cell or organism via a recombinant nucleic acid construct. An exogenous nucleic acid can be a sequence from one species introduced into another species, e.g., a heterologous nucleic acid. An exogenous nucleic acid can also be a sequence that is homologous to an organism (e.g., the nucleic acid sequence occurs naturally in that species or encodes a polypeptide that occurs naturally in the host species) that has been isolated and subsequently reintroduced into cells of that organism. An exogenous nucleic acid that includes a homologous sequence can often be distinguished from the naturally-occurring sequence by the presence of non-natural sequences linked to the exogenous nucleic acid, e.g., non-native regulatory sequences flanking the homologous gene sequence in a recombinant nucleic acid construct. Alternatively or in addition, a stably transformed exogenous nucleic acid can be detected and/or distinguished from a native gene by its juxtaposition to sequences in the genome where it has integrated. Further, a nucleic acid is considered exogenous if it has been introduced into a progenitor of the cell, organism, or strain under consideration.

As used herein, “expression” refers to the process of converting genetic information of a polynucleotide into RNA through transcription, which is typically catalyzed by an enzyme, RNA polymerase, and, where the RNA encodes a polypeptide, into protein, through translation of mRNA on ribosomes to produce the encoded protein.

The term “expression cassette” as used herein, refers to a nucleic acid construct that encodes a protein or functional RNA operably linked to expression control elements, such as a promoter, and optionally, any or a combination of other nucleic acid sequences that affect the transcription or translation of the gene, such as, but not limited to, a transcriptional terminator, a ribosome binding site, a splice site or splicing recognition sequence, an intron, an enhancer, a polyadenylation signal, an internal ribosome entry site, etc.

A “functional RNA molecule” is an RNA molecule that can interact with one or more proteins or nucleic acid molecules to perform or participate in a structural, catalytic, or regulatory function that affects the expression or activity of a gene or gene product other than the gene that produced the functional RNA. A functional RNA can be, for example, a transfer RNA (tRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA), anti-sense RNA (asRNA), microRNA (miRNA), short-hairpin RNA (shRNA), small interfering RNA (siRNA), small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs), piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA), or a ribozyme.

The term “gene” is used broadly to refer to any segment of nucleic acid molecule that encodes a protein or that can be transcribed into a functional RNA. Genes may include sequences that are transcribed but are not part of a final, mature, and/or functional RNA transcript, and genes that encode proteins may further comprise sequences that are transcribed but not translated, for example, 5′ untranslated regions, 3′ untranslated regions, introns, etc. Further, genes may optionally further comprise regulatory sequences required for their expression, and such sequences may be, for example, sequences that are not transcribed or translated. Genes can be obtained from a variety of sources, including cloning from a source of interest or synthesizing from known or predicted sequence information, and may include sequences designed to have desired parameters.

The term “heterologous” when used in reference to a polynucleotide, a gene, a nucleic acid, a polypeptide, or an enzyme, refers to a polynucleotide, gene, a nucleic acid, polypeptide, or an enzyme that is not derived from the host species. For example, “heterologous gene” or “heterologous nucleic acid sequence” as used herein, refers to a gene or nucleic acid sequence from a different species than the species of the host organism it is introduced into. When referring to a gene regulatory sequence or to an auxiliary nucleic acid sequence used for manipulating expression of a gene sequence (e.g. a 5′ untranslated region, 3′ untranslated region, poly A addition sequence, intron sequence, splice site, ribosome binding site, internal ribosome entry sequence, genome homology region, recombination site, etc.) or to a nucleic acid sequence encoding a protein domain or protein localization sequence, “heterologous” means that the regulatory or auxiliary sequence or sequence encoding a protein domain or localization sequence is from a different source than the gene with which the regulatory or auxiliary nucleic acid sequence or nucleic acid sequence encoding a protein domain or localization sequence is juxtaposed in a genome, chromosome or episome. Thus, a promoter operably linked to a gene to which it is not operably linked to in its natural state (for example, in the genome of a non-genetically engineered organism) is referred to herein as a “heterologous promoter,” even though the promoter may be derived from the same species (or, in some cases, the same organism) as the gene to which it is linked. Similarly, when referring to a protein localization sequence or protein domain of an engineered protein, “heterologous” means that the localization sequence or protein domain is derived from a protein different from that into which it is incorporated by genetic engineering.

The term “hybridization”, as used herein, refers generally to the ability of nucleic acid molecules to join via complementary base strand pairing. Such hybridization may occur when nucleic acid molecules are contacted under appropriate conditions and/or circumstances. As used herein, two nucleic acid molecules are said to be capable of specifically hybridizing to one another if the two molecules are capable of forming an anti-parallel, double-stranded nucleic acid structure. A nucleic acid molecule is said to be the “complement” of another nucleic acid molecule if they exhibit complete complementarity. As used herein, nucleic acid molecules are said to exhibit “complete complementarity” when every nucleotide of one of the molecules is complementary to its base pairing partner nucleotide of the other. Two molecules are said to be “minimally complementary” if they can hybridize to one another with sufficient stability to permit them to remain annealed to one another under at least conventional “low-stringency” conditions. In some instances, the molecules are said to be “complementary” if they can hybridize to one another with sufficient stability to permit them to remain annealed to one another under conventional “high-stringency”conditions. Nucleic acid molecules that hybridize to other nucleic acid molecules, e.g., at least under low stringency conditions are said to be “hybridizable cognates” of the other nucleic acid molecules. Conventional stringency conditions are described by Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Handbook, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989), and by Haymes et al. In: Nucleic Acid Hybridization, A Practical Approach, IRL Press, Washington, D.C. (1985). Departures from complete complementarity are therefore permissible, as long as such departures do not completely preclude the capacity of the molecules to form a double-stranded structure. Thus, in order for a nucleic acid molecule or fragment thereof of the present disclosure to serve as a primer or probe it needs only be sufficiently complementary in sequence to be able to form a stable double-stranded structure under the particular solvent and salt concentrations employed.

Appropriate stringency conditions which promote DNA hybridization include, for example, 6.0× sodium chloride/sodium citrate (SSC) at about 45° C., followed by a wash of 2.0×SSC at about 50° C. In addition, the temperature in the wash step can be increased from low stringency conditions at room temperature, about 22° C., to high stringency conditions at about 65° C. Both temperature and salt may be varied, or either the temperature or the salt concentration may be held constant while the other variable is changed. These conditions are known to those skilled in the art, or can be found in Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley & Sons, N.Y. (1989), 6.3.1-6.3.6. For example, low stringency conditions may be used to select nucleic acid sequences with lower sequence identities to a target nucleic acid sequence. One may wish to employ conditions such as about 0.15 M to about 0.9 M sodium chloride, at temperatures ranging from about 20° C. to about 55° C. High stringency conditions may be used to select for nucleic acid sequences with higher degrees of identity to the disclosed nucleic acid sequences (Sambrook et al., 1989, supra). In one embodiment of the present disclosure, high stringency conditions involve nucleic acid hybridization in about 2×SSC to about 10×SSC (diluted from a 20×SSC stock solution containing 3 M sodium chloride and 0.3 M sodium citrate, pH 7.0 in distilled water), about 2.5× to about 5×Denhardt's solution (diluted from a 50× stock solution containing 1% (w/v) bovine serum albumin, 1% (w/v) ficoll, and 1% (w/v) polyvinylpyrrolidone in distilled water), about 10 mg/mL to about 100 mg/mL fish sperm DNA, and about 0.02% (w/v) to about 0.1% (w/v) SDS, with an incubation at about 50° C. to about 70° C. for several hours to overnight. High stringency conditions are preferably provided by 6×SSC, 5×Denhardt's solution, 100 mg/mL sheared and denatured salmon sperm DNA, and 0.1% (w/v) SDS, with incubation at 55×C for several hours. Hybridization is generally followed by several wash steps. The wash compositions generally comprise 0.5×SSC to about 10×SSC, and 0.01% (w/v) to about 0.5% (w/v) SDS with a 15-min incubation at about 20° C. to about 70° C. Preferably, the nucleic acid segments remain hybridized after washing at least one time in 0.1×SSC at 65° C. In some instances, very high stringency conditions may be used to select for nucleic acid sequences with much higher degrees of identity to the disclosed nucleic acid sequences. Very high stringency conditions are defined as prehybridization and hybridization at 42° C. in 5×SSPE, 0.3% SDS, 200 μg/mL sheared and denatured salmon sperm DNA, and 50% formamide and washing three times each for 15 minutes using 2×SSC, 0.2% SDS at 70° C.

The terms, “identical” or percent “identity”, in the context of two or more nucleic acids or polypeptide sequences, refer to two or more sequences or subsequences that are the same or have a specified percentage of amino acid residues or nucleotides that are the same, when compared and aligned for maximum correspondence over a comparison window. Unless otherwise specified, the comparison window for a selected sequence, e.g., “SEQ ID NO:X” is the entire length of SEQ ID NO:X, and, e.g., the comparison window for “100 bp of SEQ ID NO:X” is the stated 100 bp. The degree of amino acid or nucleic acid sequence identity can be determined by various computer programs for aligning the sequences to be compared based on designated program parameters. For example, sequences can be aligned and compared using the local homology algorithm of Smith & Waterman Adv. Appl. Math. 2:482-89, 1981, the homology alignment algorithm of Needleman & Wunsch J. Mol. Biol. 48:443-53, 1970, or the search for similarity method of Pearson & Lipman Proc. Nat'l. Acad. Sci. USA 85:2444-48, 1988, and can be aligned and compared based on visual inspection or can use computer programs for the analysis (for example, GAP, BESTFIT, FASTA, and TFASTA in the Wisconsin Genetics Software Package, Genetics Computer Group, 575 Science Dr., Madison, Wis.).

The BLAST algorithm, described in Altschul et al., J. Mol. Biol. 215:403-10, 1990, is publicly available through software provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (available at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). This algorithm identifies high scoring sequence pairs (HSPS) by identifying short words of length W in the query sequence, which either match or satisfy some positive-valued threshold score T when aligned with a word of the same length in a database sequence. T is referred to as the neighborhood word score threshold (Altschul et al., 1990, supra). Initial neighborhood word hits act as seeds for initiating searches to find longer HSPs containing them. The word hits are then extended in both directions along each sequence for as far as the cumulative alignment score can be increased. Cumulative scores are calculated for nucleotides sequences using the parameters M (reward score for a pair of matching residues; always >0) and N (penalty score for mismatching residues; always <0). For amino acid sequences, a scoring matrix is used to calculate the cumulative score. Extension of the word hits in each direction are halted when: the cumulative alignment score falls off by the quantity X from its maximum achieved value; the cumulative score goes to zero or below due to the accumulation of one or more negative-scoring residue alignments; or the end of either sequence is reached. For determining the percent identity of an amino acid sequence or nucleic acid sequence, the default parameters of the BLAST programs can be used. For analysis of amino acid sequences, the BLASTP defaults are: word length (W), 3; expectation (E), 10; and the BLOSUM62 scoring matrix. For analysis of nucleic acid sequences, the BLASTN program defaults are word length (W), 11; expectation (E), 10; M=5; N=−4; and a comparison of both strands. The TBLASTN program (using a protein sequence to query nucleotide sequence databases) uses as defaults a word length (W) of 3, an expectation (E) of 10, and a BLOSUM 62 scoring matrix. See, Henikoff & Henikoff, Proc. Nat'l. Acad. Sci. USA 89: 10915-19, 1989.

In addition to calculating percent sequence identity, the BLAST algorithm also performs a statistical analysis of the similarity between two sequences (see, e.g., Karlin & Altschul, Proc. Nat'l. Acad. Sci. USA 90:5873-87, 1993). The smallest sum probability (P(N)), provides an indication of the probability by which a match between two nucleotide or amino acid sequences would occur by chance. For example, a nucleic acid is considered similar to a reference sequence if the smallest sum probability in a comparison of the test nucleic acid to the reference nucleic acid is less than about 0.1, preferably less than about 0.01, and more preferably less than about 0.001.

The term “isolated” molecule, such as an isolated nucleic acid or protein, as used herein, refers to a biomolecule removed from the context in which the biomolecule exists in nature. An isolated biomolecule can be, in some instances, partially or substantially purified. The term “substantially purified”, as used herein, refers to a biomolecule separated from substantially all other molecules normally associated with it in its native state. More preferably a substantially purified molecule is the predominant species present in a preparation that is, or results, however indirect, from human manipulation of a polynucleotide or polypeptide. A substantially purified molecule may be greater than 60% free, preferably 75% free, preferably 80% free, more preferably 85% free, more preferably 90% free, and most preferably 95% free from the other molecules (exclusive of solvent) present in the natural mixture. Thus, an “isolated” nucleic acid preferably is free of sequences that naturally flank the nucleic acid (that is, the sequences naturally located at the 5′ and 3′ ends of the nucleic acid) in the cell of the organism from which the nucleic acid is derived. Thus, “isolated nucleic acid” as used herein includes a naturally-occurring nucleic acid, provided one or both of the sequences immediately flanking that nucleic acid in its naturally-occurring genome is removed or absent. Thus, an isolated nucleic acid includes a nucleic acid that exists as a purified molecule or a nucleic acid molecule that is incorporated into a vector or an expression cassette. A nucleic acid existing among hundreds to millions of other nucleic acids within, for example, cDNA libraries, genomic libraries, or gel slices containing a genomic DNA restriction digest, is not to be considered an isolated nucleic acid. For example, in various embodiments, the isolated regulatory polynucleotide molecule can contain less than about 5 kb, 4 kb, 3 kb, 2 kb, 1 kb, 0.5 kb, or 0.1 kb of nucleotide sequences that naturally flank the nucleic acid molecule in the cell from which the nucleic acid is derived.

The term “native” is used herein to refer to nucleic acid sequences or amino acid sequences as they naturally occur in the host. The term “non-native” is used herein to refer to nucleic acid sequences or amino acid sequences that do not occur naturally in the host, or are not configured as they are naturally configured in the host. A nucleic acid sequence or amino acid sequence that has been removed from a host cell, subjected to laboratory manipulation, and introduced or reintroduced into a host cell is considered “non-native.” Synthetic or partially synthetic genes introduced into a host cell are “non-native.” Non-native genes further include genes endogenous to the host microorganism operably linked to one or more heterologous regulatory sequences that have been recombined into the host genome, or genes endogenous to the host organism that are in a locus of the genome other than that where they naturally occur.

The terms “naturally-occurring” and “wild-type”, as used herein, refer to a form found in nature. For example, a naturally occurring or wild-type nucleic acid molecule, nucleotide sequence or protein may be present in and isolated from a natural source, and is not intentionally modified by human manipulation. As described in detail below, the nucleic acid molecules according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are non-naturally occurring nucleic acid molecules.

The terms “nucleic acid molecule” and “polynucleotide” are used interchangeably herein, and refer to both RNA and DNA molecules, including nucleic acid molecules comprising cDNA, genomic DNA, synthetic DNA, and DNA or RNA molecules containing nucleic acid analogs. Nucleic acid molecules can have any three-dimensional structure. A nucleic acid molecule can be double-stranded or single-stranded (e.g., a sense strand or an antisense strand). Non-limiting examples of nucleic acid molecules include genes, gene fragments, exons, introns, messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA, ribosomal RNA, siRNA, micro-RNA, tracrRNAs, crRNAs, guide RNAs, ribozymes, cDNA, recombinant polynucleotides, branched polynucleotides, nucleic acid probes and nucleic acid primers. A nucleic acid molecule may contain unconventional or modified nucleotides. The terms “polynucleotide sequence” and “nucleic acid sequence” as used herein interchangeably refer to the sequence of a polynucleotide molecule. The nomenclature for nucleotide bases as set forth in 37 CFR §1.822 is used herein.

The nucleic acid molecules of the present disclosure will preferably be “biologically active” with respect to either a structural attribute, such as the capacity of a nucleic acid molecule to hybridize to another nucleic acid molecule, or the ability of a nucleic acid sequence to be recognized and bound by a transcription factor (or to compete with another nucleic acid molecule for such binding).

Nucleic acid molecules of the present disclosure will include nucleic acid sequences of any length, including nucleic acid molecules that are preferably between about 0.05 Kb and about 300 Kb, for example between about 0.05 Kb and about 250 Kb, between about 0.05 Kb and about 150 Kb, or between about 0.1 Kb and about 150 Kb, for example between about 0.2 Kb and about 150 Kb, about 0.5 Kb and about 150 Kb, or about 1 Kb and about 150 Kb.

The term “operably linked”, as used herein, denotes a functional linkage between two or more sequences. For example, an operably linkage between a polynucleotide of interest and a regulatory sequence (for example, a promoter) is functional link that allows for expression of the polynucleotide of interest. In this sense, the term “operably linked” refers to the positioning of a regulatory region and a coding sequence to be transcribed so that the regulatory region is effective for regulating transcription or translation of the coding sequence of interest. In some embodiments disclosed herein, the term “operably linked” denotes a configuration in which a regulatory sequence is placed at an appropriate position relative to a sequence that encodes a polypeptide or functional RNA such that the control sequence directs or regulates the expression or cellular localization of the mRNA encoding the polypeptide, the polypeptide, and/or the functional RNA. Thus, a promoter is in operable linkage with a nucleic acid sequence if it can mediate transcription of the nucleic acid sequence. Operably linked elements may be contiguous or non-contiguous. Further, when used to refer to the joining of two protein coding regions, by “operably linked” is intended that the coding regions are in the same reading frame.

The terms “promoter”, “promoter region”, or “promoter sequence”, as used interchangeably herein, refer to a nucleic acid sequence capable of binding RNA polymerase to initiate transcription of a gene in a 5′ to 3′ (“downstream”) direction. The specific sequence of the promoter typically determines the strength of the promoter. For example, a strong promoter leads to a high rate of transcription initiation. A gene is “under the control of” or “regulated by” a promoter when the binding of RNA polymerase to the promoter is the proximate cause of said gene's transcription. The promoter or promoter region typically provides a recognition site for RNA polymerase and other factors necessary for proper initiation of transcription. A promoter may be isolated from the 5′ untranslated region (5′ UTR) of a genomic copy of a gene. Alternatively, a promoter may be synthetically produced or designed by altering known DNA elements. Also considered are chimeric promoters that combine sequences of one promoter with sequences of another promoter. Promoters may be defined by their expression pattern based on, for example, metabolic, environmental, or developmental conditions. Some embodiments relate to promoters capable of driving gene expression preferentially in different microbial growth phases. The term “lipogenic promoter”, as used herein, refers to a promoter of a gene that is preferentially expressed at high levels during lipid production phase of a chytrid cell culture. The lipid production phase, in which the rate of lipid biosynthesis increases significantly with respect to lipid production during the nutrient replete growth phase of a culture, can be induced by nutrient limitation, particularly nitrogen limitation. Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to promoters capable of driving gene expression constitutively throughout cell life cycle and/or unaffected by growth conditions, as well as at low, moderate, high, or very high transcription levels. A promoter can be used as a regulatory element for modulating expression of an operably linked polynucleotide molecule such as, for example, a coding sequence of a polypeptide or a functional RNA sequence. Promoters may contain, in addition to sequences recognized by RNA polymerase and, preferably, other transcription factors, regulatory sequence elements such as cis-elements or enhancer domains that affect the transcription of operably linked genes. A “labyrinthulomycetes promoter” as used herein refers to a native or non-native promoter that is functional in labyrinthulomycetes cells.

The term “recombinant” or “engineered” nucleic acid molecule as used herein, refers to a nucleic acid molecule that has been altered through human intervention. As non-limiting examples, a cDNA is a recombinant DNA molecule, as is any nucleic acid molecule that has been generated by in vitro polymerase reaction(s), or to which linkers have been attached, or that has been integrated into a vector, such as a cloning vector or expression vector. As non-limiting examples, a recombinant nucleic acid molecule: 1) has been synthesized or modified in vitro, for example, using chemical or enzymatic techniques (for example, by use of chemical nucleic acid synthesis, or by use of enzymes for the replication, polymerization, exonucleolytic digestion, endonucleolytic digestion, ligation, reverse transcription, transcription, base modification (including, e.g., methylation), or recombination (including homologous and site-specific recombination)) of nucleic acid molecules; 2) includes conjoined nucleotide sequences that are not conjoined in nature, 3) has been engineered using molecular cloning techniques such that it lacks one or more nucleotides with respect to the naturally occurring nucleic acid molecule sequence, and/or 4) has been manipulated using molecular cloning techniques such that it has one or more sequence changes or rearrangements with respect to the naturally occurring nucleic acid sequence. As non-limiting examples, a cDNA is a recombinant DNA molecule, as is any nucleic acid molecule that has been generated by in vitro polymerase reaction(s), or to which linkers have been attached, or that has been integrated into a vector, such as a cloning vector or expression vector.

When applied to organisms, the terms “transgenic” “transformed” or “recombinant” or “engineered” or “genetically engineered” refer to organisms that have been manipulated by introduction of an exogenous or recombinant nucleic acid sequence into the organism. Non-limiting examples of such manipulations include gene knockouts, targeted mutations and gene replacement, promoter replacement, deletion, or insertion, as well as introduction of transgenes into the organism. For example, a transgenic microorganism can include an introduced exogenous regulatory sequence operably linked to an endogenous gene of the transgenic microorganism. Recombinant or genetically engineered organisms can also be organisms into which constructs for gene “knock down” have been introduced. Such constructs include, but are not limited to, RNAi, microRNA, shRNA, antisense, and ribozyme constructs. Also included are organisms whose genomes have been altered by the activity of meganucleases or zinc finger nucleases. A heterologous or recombinant nucleic acid molecule can be integrated into a genetically engineered/recombinant organism's genome or, in other instances, not integrated into a recombinant/genetically engineered organism's genome. As used herein, “recombinant microorganism” or “recombinant host cell” includes progeny or derivatives of the recombinant microorganisms of the disclosure. Because certain modifications may occur in succeeding generations from either mutation or environmental influences, such progeny or derivatives may not, in fact, be identical to the parent cell, but are still included within the scope of the term as used herein.

“Regulatory sequence”, “regulatory element”, or “regulatory element sequence” refers to a nucleotide sequence located upstream (5′), within, or downstream (3′) of a polypeptide-encoding sequence or functional RNA-encoding sequence. Transcription of the polypeptide-encoding sequence or functional RNA-encoding sequence and/or translation of an RNA molecule resulting from transcription of the coding sequence are typically affected by the presence or absence of the regulatory sequence. These regulatory element sequences may comprise promoters, cis-elements, enhancers, terminators, or introns. Regulatory elements may be isolated or identified from untranslated regions (UTRs) from a particular polynucleotide sequence. Any of the regulatory elements described herein may be present in a chimeric or hybrid regulatory expression element. Any of the regulatory elements described herein may be present in a recombinant construct of the present disclosure.

A “reporter gene”, as used herein, is a gene encoding a protein that is detectable or has an activity that produces a detectable product. A reporter gene can encode a visual marker or enzyme that produces a detectable signal, such as cat, lacZ, uidA, xylE, an alkaline phosphatase gene, an α-amylase gene, an α-galactosidase gene, a β-glucuronidase gene, a β-lactamase gene, a horseradish peroxidase gene, a luciferin/luciferase gene, an R-locus gene, a tyrosinase gene, or a gene encoding a fluorescent protein, including but not limited to a blue, cyan, green, red, or yellow fluorescent protein, a photoconvertible, photoswitchable, or optical highlighter fluorescent protein, or any of variant thereof, including, without limitation, codon-optimized, rapidly folding, monomeric, increased stability, and enhanced fluorescence variants.

The term “selectable marker” or “selectable marker gene” as used herein includes any gene that confers a phenotype on a cell in which it is expressed to facilitate the selection of cells that are transfected or transformed with a nucleic acid construct of the disclosure. The term may also be used to refer to gene products that effectuate said phenotypes. Examples of selectable markers include:

-   -   genes conferring resistance to antibiotics such as amikacin         (aphA6), ampicillin (amp), blasticidin (bis, bsr, bsd),         bleomicin or phleomycin (ZEOCIN™) (ble), chloramphenicol (cat),         emetine (RBS 14p or cry 1-1), erythromycin (ermE), G418         (GENETICIN™) (neo), gentamycin (aac3 or aacC4), hygromycin B         (aph1V, hph, hpt), kanamycin (nptll), methotrexate (DHFR mtxR),         penicillin and other β-lactams (β-lactamases), streptomycin or         spectinomycin (aadA, spec/strep), and tetracycline (tetA, tetM,         tetQ);     -   genes conferring tolerance to herbicides such as aminotriazole,         amitrole, andrimid, aryloxyphenoxy propionates, atrazines,         bipyridyliums, bromoxynil, cyclohexandione oximes dalapon,         dicamba, diclfop, dichlorophenyl dimethyl urea (DCMU), difunone,         diketonitriles, diuron, fluridone, glufosinate, glyphosate,         halogenated hydrobenzonitriles, haloxyfop, 4-hydroxypyridines,         imidazolinones, isoxasflutole, isoxazoles, isoxazolidinones,         miroamide B, p-nitrodiphenylethers, norflurazon, oxadiazoles,         m-phenoxybenzamides, N-phenyl imides, pinoxadin,         protoporphyrionogen oxidase inhibitors, pyridazinones,         pyrazolinates, sulfonylureas, 1,2,4-triazol pyrimidine,         triketones, or urea; acetyl Co A carboxylase (ACCase);         acetohydroxy acid synthase (ahas); acetolactate synthase (als,         csr1-1, csr1-2, imr1, imr2), aminoglycoside phosphotransferase         (apt), anthranilate synthase, bromoxynil nitrilase (bxn),         cytochrome P450-NADH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase, dalapon         dehalogenase (dehal), dihydropteroate synthase (sul), class I         5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), class II         EPSPS (aroA), non-class VII EPSPS, glutathione reductase,         glyphosate acetyltransferase (gat), glyphosate oxidoreductase         (gox), hydroxyphenylpyruvate dehydrogenase,         hydroxy-phenylpyruvate dioxygenase (hppd), isoprenyl         pyrophosphate isomerase, lycopene cyclase, phosphinothricin         acetyl transferase (pat, bar), phytoene desaturase (crtJ),         prenyl transferase, protoporphyrin oxidase, the psbA photosystem         II polypeptide (psbA), and SMM esterase (SulE) superoxide         dismutase (sod);     -   genes that may be used in auxotrophic strains or to confer other         metabolic effects, such as arg7, his3, hisD, hisG, lysA, manA,         metE, nit1, trpB, ura3, xylA, a dihydrofolate reductase gene, a         mannose-6-phosphate isomerase gene, a nitrate reductase gene, or         an ornithine decarboxylase gene; a negative selection factor         such as thymidine kinase; or toxin resistance factors such as a         2-deoxyglucose resistance gene.

The term “terminator” or “terminator sequence” or “transcription terminator”, as used herein, refers to a regulatory section of genetic sequence that causes RNA polymerase to cease transcription.

The term “transformation”, “transfection”, and “transduction”, as used interchangeably herein, refers to the introduction of one or more exogenous nucleic acid sequences into a host cell or organism by using one or more physical, chemical, or biological methods. Physical and chemical methods of transformation include, by way of non-limiting example, electroporation and liposome delivery. Biological methods of transformation include transfer of DNA using engineered viruses or microbes (for example, Agrobacterium).

As used herein, the term “vector” refers to a recombinant polynucleotide construct designed for transfer between host cells, and that may be used for the purpose of transformation, e.g. the introduction of heterologous DNA into a host cell. As such, the term “vector” as used herein sometimes refers to a replicon, such as a plasmid, phage, or cosmid, into which another DNA segment may be inserted so as to bring about the replication of the inserted segment. A vector typically includes one or both of 1) an origin of replication, and 2) a selectable marker. A vector can additionally include sequence for mediating recombination of a sequence on the vector into a target genome, cloning sites, and/or regulatory sequences such as promoters and/or terminators. Generally, a vector is capable of replication when associated with the proper control elements. The term “vector” includes cloning vectors and expression vectors, as well as viral vectors and integrating vectors. An “expression vector” is a vector that includes a regulatory region, thereby capable of expressing DNA sequences and fragments in vitro and/or in vivo.

B. Molecules of the Disclosure

Some embodiments disclosed herein relate to promoter sequences that were identified from genomic sequences of the labyrinthulomycetes strains isolated from marine environments designated SGI-i886 of the genus Aurantiochytrium, which was described previously as WH-5628 strain in U.S. application Ser. No. 14/720,679 and PCT Pub. No. WO2015/179844, and SGI-i94 of the genus Schizochytrium and can find use in the expression of genes, such as but not limited to transgenes, in eukaryotic microorganisms. The method by which these new promoter sequences were discovered is described more fully in the examples herein. SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202 were identified as comprising promoters, many of which were subsequently demonstrated to mediate expression of transgenes in a labyrinthulomycetes strain. In addition, SEQ ID NOs:71-78 were identified as comprising terminators derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae or simian virus 40 that were demonstrated to be functional in a labyrinthulomycetes strain.

Based on the demonstration that these sequences mediate expression heterologous genes, one aspect of the present disclosure provides isolated, synthetic, and recombinant DNA (nucleic acid) molecules that correspond to SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202 and to nucleic acid molecules comprising nucleotide sequences having about 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202. Additionally provided herein are isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecules hybridizing under high stringency conditions to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202.

A nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can comprise, for example, a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 50, at least 100, at least 150, at least 200, at least 250, at least 300, at least 350, at least 400, at least 450, at least 500, at least 550, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, at least 750, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, at least 950, or at least 1000 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202. In some examples, a nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can comprise a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99% or 100% identity to at least 50, at least 100, at least 150, at least 200, at least 250, at least 300, at least 350, at least 400, at least 450, at least 500, at least 550, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, at least 750, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, at least 950, or at least 1000 contiguous nucleotides from the 3′-most end and extending in the 5′ direction of any one of SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202. The nucleic acid sequence can have promoter activity, as demonstrated by any of the assays herein or any assays for promoter activity known in the art. The nucleic acid molecule can comprise a nucleic acid sequence having homology to at least a portion of one or more of SEQ ID NO: 1-70 and 180-202 in a vector and/or operably linked to a heterologous nucleic acid sequence. The heterologous nucleic acid sequence can be, for example, a heterologous nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide or a functional RNA. A nucleic acid sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 nucleotides of SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202 can have promoter activity in a microorganism, such as but not limited to a fungus, a heterokont, or an alga. For example, a nucleic acid sequence as provided herein can have promoter activity in a heterokont species such as a labyrinthulomycetes species.

In some embodiments, an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can include a nucleotide sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199. In some examples, a nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can comprise a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to at least 50, at least 100, at least 150, at least 200, at least 250, at least 300, at least 350, at least 400, at least 450, at least 500, at least 550, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, at least 750, at least 800, at least 850, at least 900, at least 950, or at least 1000 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199, where the contiguous nucleotides extend from the 3′-most end of SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199. For example, the isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule can include a nucleic acid sequence exhibiting at least 80% sequence identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, and SEQ ID NO:199. In some examples, a nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can include a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:63, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:70, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199 or at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of any thereof. In some embodiments, the isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein is functional and can direct expression of a gene to which it is operably linked (e.g., a gene encoding a polypeptide or functional RNA) in a eukaryotic cell, such as but not limited to an algal, fungal, heterokont, or labyrinthulomycetes cell. For example, the isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can include a heterologous nucleic acid sequence, such as protein-encoding DNA sequence or a DNA sequence encoding a functional RNA, operably linked to the nucleic acid sequence having homology to at least a portion of SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199. For example, the nucleic acid sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199, which can be, in some examples, a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80% identity to SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:63, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:70, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199, or at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of any thereof, can direct transcription of the heterologous nucleic acid sequence.

For example, an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can include a nucleotide sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:63, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:70, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199. In some embodiments, the isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein is functional and can direct expression of a gene to which it is operably linked (e.g., a gene encoding a polypeptide or functional RNA) in a eukaryotic cell, such as but not limited to an algal, fungal, heterokont, or labyrinthulomycetes cell. For example, the isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can include a heterologous nucleic acid sequence, such as protein-encoding DNA sequence or a DNA sequence encoding a functional RNA, operably linked to the nucleic acid sequence having at least 80% identity to SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:63, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:70, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199 can direct transcription of the heterologous nucleic acid sequence.

Further alternatively or in addition, an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can include a nucleotide sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% identity to SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199. In some embodiments, the isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein is functional and can direct expression of a gene to which it is operably linked (e.g., a gene encoding a polypeptide or functional RNA) in a eukaryotic cell, such as but not limited to an algal, fungal, heterokont, or labyrinthulomycetes cell. For example, the isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can include a heterologous nucleic acid sequence, such as protein-encoding DNA sequence or a DNA sequence encoding a functional RNA, operably linked to the nucleic acid sequence having homology to SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199. For example, the nucleic acid sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, o SEQ ID NO:199 can direct transcription of the heterologous nucleic acid sequence.

The isolated, synthetic or recombinant nucleic acid molecules as provided herein can find use, for example, as a sequence that, when operably linked to a heterologous nucleic acid sequence, can affect expression of the heterologous nucleic acid sequence. In some embodiments, the heterologous nucleic acid sequence comprises, for example, a sequence encoding a polypeptide or functional RNA. For example, an isolated, synthetic or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein can, as a promoter, increase or decrease expression of a nucleic acid sequence (or a portion thereof) to which it is operably linked, or may mediate transcription of the operably-linked nucleic acid sequence (or a portion thereof). Methods for assessing the functionality of nucleotide sequences for promoter activity, as well as for enhancing or decreasing the activity of proximal promoters, are well-known in the art. For example, promoter function can be validated by confirming the ability of the putative promoter or promoter variant or fragment to drive expression of a selectable marker gene to which the putative promoter or promoter fragment or variant is operably linked by detecting and, optionally, analyzing, resistant colonies after plating of cells transformed with the promoter construct on selective media.

Additionally or alternatively, promoter activity may be assessed by measuring the levels of RNA transcripts produced from a promoter construct, for example, using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR; see, e.g., Watt et al., PLoS ONE 1:e1428, 2008), by detection of the expressed protein, or by in vivo assays that rely on an activity of the protein encoded by the transcribed sequence. For example, promoter activity can be assessed using chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) assays (where the heterologous sequence operably linked to the isolated nucleic acid molecule that comprises a putative promoter encodes chloramphenicol acetyltransferase, see, for example, Gerrish et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 275:3485-92, 2000), luciferase assays, where the heterologous nucleic acid is a lux or luc gene, for example (see, for example, Ferrante et al., PLoS ONE 3:e3200, 2008), or in vivo assays using a fluorescent protein gene to determine the functionality of any of the sequences disclosed herein, including sequences of reduced size or having one or more nucleotide changes with respect to any of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202 (see, for example, Akamura et al., Anal. Biochem. 412: 159-64, 2011).

Testing of sequence modifications, including deletions (e.g., promoter truncations) and base substitutions of the promoter-containing sequences using reporter constructs such as but not limited to those provided herein are well-known in the art (see, for example, Quinn et al., Eukaryotic Cell 2:995-1002, 2003; Ranjan et al., J. Biotechnol. 152:58-62, 2011; Gerrish et al., 2000, supra).

In other embodiments, an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as provided herein having a promoter having homology to at least a portion of any one of SEQ ID NO:1-70 and SEQ ID NO:180-202, operably linked to a heterologous sequence encoding a polypeptide or functional RNA according to any of the above examples, can further include a nucleotide sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:71, a nucleotide sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:72, a nucleotide sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:73, a nucleotide sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:74, a nucleotide sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:75, a nucleotide sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:76, a nucleotide sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:77, a nucleotide sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:78. The nucleic acid sequence having homology to at least a portion of any of SEQ ID NO:71-SEQ ID NO:78 can be operably linked at the 3′ end of the heterologous sequence encoding a polypeptide or functional RNA. The isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule can mediate transcriptional termination of a gene to which it is operably linked. The nucleic acid sequence having homology to at least a portion of any of SEQ ID NO:71-SEQ ID NO:78 can have at least 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% percent identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides to any one of SEQ ID NOs:71-78, for example, can have at least 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% percent identity to any one of SEQ ID NOs:71-78.

Cis-Acting Elements

As used herein, the term “cis-acting element” refers to a cis-acting transcriptional regulatory element which confers an aspect of the overall control of gene expression. In general, cis-acting elements are believed to affect DNA topology, producing local conformations that selectively allow or restrict access of RNA polymerase to the DNA template or that facilitate selective opening of the double helix at the site of transcriptional initiation. Many cis-acting elements may function to interact with transcription factors.

Cis-acting elements occur within the 5′ genomic region associated with a particular coding sequence, and are often found within, but are not limited to promoters, and promoter-modulating sequences (inducible elements). Examples of cis-acting elements in the 5′ genomic region associated with a polynucleotide coding sequence include, but are not limited to, promoters, repressors, and enhancers.

Cis-acting element can be identified by a number of techniques, including deletion analysis, e.g., deleting one or more nucleotides from the 5′ end or internal to a promoter; DNA binding protein analysis using DNase I footprinting, methylation interference, electrophoresis mobility-shift assays, in vivo genomic footprinting by ligation-mediated PCR, and other conventional assays well known to the skilled artisan; or by DNA sequence similarity analysis with known cis-acting element motifs by conventional DNA sequence comparison methods such as, for example, those described herein. The fine structure of a cis-acting element can be further studied by mutagenesis (or substitution) of one or more nucleotides or by other conventional methods well known in molecular genetics and molecular biology. Cis-acting elements can be obtained by chemical synthesis or by isolation from promoters that include such elements, and they can be synthesized with additional flanking nucleotides that contain useful restriction enzyme sites to facilitate subsequence manipulation. Furthermore, cis-acting elements can be identified using known cis-acting elements as a target sequence or target motif in various BLAST-based computer programs.

In some embodiments, the nucleic acid molecules of the present disclosure may comprise multiple cis-acting elements each of which confers a different aspect to the overall control of gene expression. In a preferred embodiment, cis-acting elements from the polynucleotide molecules of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202, are identified using computer programs designed specifically to identify cis-acting elements, domains, or motifs within sequences. Cis-elements may either positively or negatively regulate gene expression, depending on the conditions. The present disclosure therefore encompasses cis-acting elements of the nucleic acid molecules disclosed herein.

In some embodiments, promoters of the present disclosure may include homologs of cis-acting elements known to effect gene regulation and that show sequence homology with the promoter sequences of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, a regulatory region according to the present disclosure can contain conserved regulatory motifs. Such a regulatory region can be any one of the sequences set forth in SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202, or a regulatory region having a nucleotide sequence that deviates from any one of the sequences set forth in SEQ ID NOs:1-70 and 180-202, while retaining the ability to direct expression of an operably linked nucleic acid. For example, a regulatory region can contain a CAAT box or a TATA box. A CAAT box is a conserved nucleotide sequence involved in modulation of gene transcription, and can function as a recognition and binding site for a family of regulatory proteins, or transcription factors. A TATA box is another conserved nucleotide sequence found in the promoter region of a large number of genes, and is widely believed to be involved in transcription initiation. Indeed, TATA box has been reported to be important in determining accurately the position at which transcription is initiated. In addition, a particular promoter may contain multiple TATA-boxes, in which case each of the TATA boxes may have different strengths; and stronger TATA boxes are reported to increase expression in a more predictable fashion. It has also reported that the sequence and spacing of TATA box elements are important for accurate initiation of transcription (see, e.g., Mogno et al., Genome Res. 20: 1391-1397, 2010).

Other conserved regulatory motifs can be identified using a variety of techniques and methods known in the art. For example, those skilled in the art will recognize that conserved regulatory regions and regulatory motifs can be identified using the PlantCARE web resource, which is a database of plant promoters and their cis-acting regulatory elements, including enhancers and repressors (Lescot et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 30: 325 327, 2002). In PlantCARE database, regulatory elements are represented by positional matrices, consensus sequences and individual sites on particular promoter sequences.

One skilled in the art will further appreciate that conserved regulatory regions and regulatory motifs can be also identified using the PlantProm plant promoter database, which is an annotated, non-redundant collection of proximal promoter sequences for RNA polymerase II with experimentally determined transcription start site(s) (TSS), from various plant species (Shahmuradov et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 31:114 117, 2003). It provides DNA sequence of the promoter regions with TSS, taxonomic/promoter type classification of promoters and Nucleotide Frequency Matrices (NFM) for promoter elements: TATA-box, CCAAT-box and TSS-motif.

Additionally, it will be further appreciated by the skilled artisan that conserved regulatory regions and regulatory motifs can also be identified and/or analyzed using the PLACE (PLAnt Cis-acting regulatory DNA Elements) database, which is a database of nucleotide sequence motifs found in plant cis-acting regulatory DNA elements. See, e.g., Higo et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 27(1):297-300, 1999; and Prestridge, CABIOS, 7:203-206, 1991. Approximately 1,340 conserved regulatory motifs can be found in the PLACE database. Depending upon the need for using a specific cis-acting element, the regulatory database can be searched using a web signal scan program that can be found on the World Wide Web at dna.affrc.go.jp/PLACE/signalscan.html. Documents for each motif in the PLACE database contain a motif sequence, a brief definition and description of each motif, and relevant literature with PubMed ID numbers and GenBank accession numbers (Higo et al., 1999, supra). The listed cis-acting regulatory elements in the PLACE database and the cis-acting regulatory elements that are provided in Raumbauts et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 27:295-296 1999) and Higo et al. (1999, supra) can be used with various embodiments of the disclosure.

Promoters

Also provided herein are promoters comprising a nucleic acid sequence such as any described herein, for example, a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, or at least 95% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202. For example, a promoter as provided herein may include a nucleotide sequence that has at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% sequence identity to at least 50, at least 100, at least 150, at least 200, least 250, at least 300, at least 350, at least 400, at least 450, at least 500, at least 550, at least 600, at least 550, at least 600, at least 650, at least 700, or at least 750, contiguous nucleotides of any of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202.

For example, a promoter as provided herein may include a nucleotide sequence that has at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, or at least 95% sequence identity to at least 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, or 700 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199, and can be for example, a nucleotide sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, or at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:63, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:70, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199. A promoter as provided herein can include a nucleotide sequence that has at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% sequence identity to at least 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, or 700 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:34, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:197, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199.

In some embodiments, a promoter as provided herein can include a nucleotide sequence that has at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, or at least 95% sequence identity to at least 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 550, 600, 650, or 700 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199. A promoter as provided herein can include a nucleotide sequence that has at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99% sequence identity to at least 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, or 700 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:181, SEQ ID NO:182, SEQ ID NO:183, SEQ ID NO:186, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:196, SEQ ID NO:198, or SEQ ID NO:199.

A promoter as provided herein can be a constitutive promoter, and may be active in a host cell cultured under conditions in which one or more nutrients are deficient as well as in culture conditions in which nutrients are sufficient for proliferation and/or growth of the culture. For example, a promoter as provided herein may direct expression of an operably linked nucleic acid sequence under conditions in which a host cell that includes the promoter construct is limited in oxygen availability (oxygen depletion/deficiency) as well as under conditions in which a host cell that includes the promoter construct is not limited in oxygen availability (oxygen replete conditions).

Some embodiments described herein relate to promoters that are capable of driving gene expression constitutively throughout cell life cycle and/or unaffected by growth conditions. Some embodiments described herein relate to promoters capable of driving gene expression at low, moderate, high, or very high transcription levels (e.g., strong promoters).

Some embodiments described herein relate to promoters that are capable of driving gene expression preferentially in different microbial growth phases. For example, in the case of EPA production, it is beneficial to express pathway genes using a promoter that is expressed highly during one, two, and/or more culture phases (for example, a growth phase and a lipid production phase). In particular, high expression during growth phase allows for sufficient EPA production that is required for growth without PUFA supplementation. Furthermore, high expression during lipogenesis, e.g. lipid production phase, allows for the engineered strains to produce and accumulate EPA.

Without being bound by theory, promoters generally allow RNA polymerase to attach to DNA near a coding sequence in order for transcription to take place. Promoters contain specific DNA sequences that provide transcription factors to an initial binding site from which they can recruit RNA polymerase binding. These transcription factors have specific protein motifs that enable them to interact with specific corresponding nucleotide sequences to regulate gene expressions. The minimal portion of the promoter required for proper transcription initiation typically include: (1) the Transcription Start Site (“TSS”) and elements directly upstream; (2) an RNA polymerase binding site; and (3) general transcription factor binding sites such as, for example, a TATA box.

A proximal promoter sequence may be approximately 250 base pairs (bp) upstream of the translational start site of the open reading frame of the gene and may contain, in addition to sequences for binding RNA polymerase, specific transcription factor binding sites. The term “promoter” as used herein can therefore refer to a sequence that optionally includes at least a portion of the 5′ untranslated region (“5′ UTR”) of a gene that is upstream of the translational start site of the open reading frame of the gene. Some promoters also include a distal sequence upstream of the gene that may contain additional regulatory elements, often with a weaker influence than the proximal promoter. Eukaryotic transcriptional complexes can bend the DNA back on itself, thus allowing for potential placement of additional regulatory sequences as far as several kilobases (kb) from the transcription start site (TSS). Many eukaryotic promoters contain a TATA box. The TATA box binds the TATA binding protein, which assists in the formation of the RNA polymerase transcriptional complex. TATA boxes usually lie within approximately 50 bp of the TSS. A promoter may be constitutive or expressed conditionally. Some promoters are inducible, and may activate or increase transcription in response to an inducing agent. In contrast, the rate of transcription of a gene under control of a constitutive promoter is not dependent on an inducing agent. A constitutive promoter can be made a conditional or inducible promoter by the addition of sequences that confer responsiveness to particular conditions or to an inducing agent. Thus, promoters provided herein may be constitutive or may be inducible or conditional. Further, promoters or portions of promoters may be combined in series to achieve a stronger level of expression or a more complex pattern of regulation.

In various examples, a promoter as provided herein, such as but not limited to a promoter that comprises a nucleotide sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99%, or about 100% identity to at least 50, at least 100, at least 200, at least 300, at least 400, or at least 500 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202, can mediate transcription of an operably linked nucleic acid sequence in a eukaryotic cell, such as, for example, a labyrinthulomycetes cell. In some instances, a promoter as provided herein can mediate transcription of an operably linked nucleic acid sequence in a eukaryotic cell, such as but not limited to a labyrinthulomycetes cell, during culturing of the cell under conditions of nutrient depletion as well as during culturing of the cell under nutrient replete conditions. For example, a promoter as described herein can preferably mediate transcription of an operably linked nucleic acid sequence in labyrinthulomycetes cells cultured under conditions of nutrient depletion or cultured under nutrient replete conditions.

Additionally, as contemplated herein, a promoter or promoter region can include variants of the promoters disclosed herein derived by deleting sequences, duplicating sequences, or adding sequences from other promoters or as designed, for example, by bioinformatics, or by subjecting the promoter to random or site-directed mutagenesis, etc.

Any of the nucleic acid molecules described herein may comprise nucleic acid sequences comprising promoters. For example, nucleic acid molecules of the present disclosure can comprise promoters including nucleic acid sequences having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, or between 95% and 100% identity to the sequences located between about 0 bp, 10 bp, 20 bp, 50 bp, 100 bp, 200 bp or 300 bp to about 500 bp, 600 bp, 700 bp, 800 bp, 900 bp, or 1 kb upstream of the trinucleotide ATG sequence at the start site of a protein coding region of a native labyrinthulomycetes gene, such as, for example, a 40s ribosomal protein S3a (RPS3a) gene, a 60s ribososomal protein 11 (RPL11) gene, a 60S ribosomal protein L26 (RPL26) gene, a 60S ribosomal protein L6 (RPL6) gene, a 60S ribosomal protein L9 (RPL9) gene, an acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase 2 (ACS2) gene, an actin (Act) gene, an actin depolymerase (Adp) gene, an adenosylhomocysteinase (AHC) gene, an alternative oxidase (AOX) gene, a Catalase (cat) gene, a cytochrome C oxidase (cox) gene, an Eft2p GTPase and translation elongation factor 2 (EF-2) gene, an elongation factor 1-alpha 1 (EF1 alpha) gene, an elongation factor 1-beta (EF1beta) gene, a eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A isoform IV (IF-5a) gene, a Fa ATP synthase (FAAS) gene, a heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) gene, a heavy metal associated domain (HMA) gene, a hexose transporter 1 (HXT1) gene, a mitochondrial chaperonin 60 (hsp60) gene, a neighbor of BRCA1 gene 1 (NBR1) gene, a phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) gene, a phosphotidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) gene, a small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) gene, a superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene, a Tetraspanin (Tsp) gene, a transcription elongation factor 3 (EF-3) gene, a transcriptionally-controlled tumor protein homolog (TCTP) gene, a translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1a) gene, a tubulin alpha chain gene, or a tubulin alpha chain gene.

Additionally or alternatively, promoters of the present disclosure can include nucleic acid sequences having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, or between 95% and 100% identity to the reverse complement of sequences between about 0 bp, 20 bp, 50 bp, 100 bp, 200 bp or 300 bp to about 500 bp, 600 bp, 700 bp, 800 bp, 900 bp, or 1 kb upstream of the trinucleotide ATG sequence, that is at the start site of a protein coding region of a native labyrinthulomycetes gene, such as, a mitochondrial chaperonin 60 (hsp60) gene, a phosphotidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) gene, or a 60s ribososomal protein 11 (RPL11) gene.

The activity or strength of a promoter may be measured in terms of the amount of RNA it produces, or the amount of protein accumulation in a cell or tissue, which can optionally be measured by an activity of the expressed protein such as, for example, fluorescence, luminescence, acyltransferase activity, etc., relative to a promoter whose transcriptional activity has been previously assessed, relative to a promoter-less construct, or relative to non-transformed cells. For example, the activity or strength of a promoter may be measured in terms of the amount of mRNA accumulated that corresponds to a nucleic acid sequence to which it is operably linked in a cell, relative to the total amount of mRNA or protein produced by the cell. The promoter preferably expresses an operably linked nucleic acid sequence at a level greater than 0.01%; preferably in a range of about 0.5% to about 20% (w/w) of the total cellular RNA. The promoter activity can also be measured by quantifying fluorescence, luminescence, or absorbance of the cells or a product made by the cells or an extract thereof, depending on the activity of a reporter protein that may be expressed from the promoter, as described in further detail in the Examples. The activity or strength of a promoter may be expressed relative to a well-characterized promoter (for which transcriptional activity was previously assessed). For example, a less-characterized promoter may be operably linked to a reporter sequence (for example, a fluorescent protein) and introduced into a specific cell type. A well-characterized promoter is similarly prepared and introduced into the same cellular context. Transcriptional activity of the less-characterized promoter is determined by comparing the amount of reporter expression, relative to the well characterized promoter.

A promoter described herein can have promoter activity in a eukaryotic cell, preferably in a labyrinthulomycetes cell. In a particular example, a promoter as provided herein is active in a labyrinthulomycetes cell in nutrient replete and nutrient-depleted culture conditions. An labyrinthulomycetes promoter as provided herein can be used as a 5′ regulatory element for modulating expression of an operably linked gene or genes in labyrinthulomycetes species as well as other organisms, including fungi, heterokonts, and plants.

Using promoter assay methods, such as but not limited to the method described in Examples 3-7 of the present disclosure, the promoter sequences as provided herein can be further modified, e.g. truncated or mutated, and screened to refine the active promoter regions.

Terminators

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, terminators are provided in which the terminators comprise a nucleotide sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99%, or about 100% identity to at least 50, at least 100 or at least 150 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 71-78.

Terminators are genetic sequences that mark the end of a gene for transcription. Without being bound by theory, the terminators of the present disclosure may improve expression improve expression of the nucleic acid sequence (amount of encoded RNA or protein produced), and may mediate polyadenylation or enhance RNA transcript stability. Most terminator sequences in eukaryotes consist of at least two DNA sequences: (1) a binding site for terminator proteins and (2) an upstream element located among the last twelve nucleotides of the transcript. The protein binding sites are usually orientation-sensitive and essential to termination. Termination usually occurs between twelve and twenty nucleotides upstream of the binding site. The upstream element's functionality usually depends more on its overall base composition (T-rich) than on the specific sequence (see, for example, Reeder and Lang, Trends Biochem Sci. 22:473-477, 1997).

Expression Cassettes

Expression cassettes are also provided in the present disclosure, in which the expression cassettes comprise one or more promoters or regulatory elements as provided herein to drive the expression of transgenes. An expression cassette can comprise any of the nucleic acid sequences as described herein or any combination thereof that comprise promoters, operably linked to a gene of interest, with the gene of interest positioned downstream of the promoter sequence. For example, any of the promoters listed in TABLE 2, or any subfragments thereof having promoter activity can be used in an expression cassette. Expression cassettes can include, for example, a promoter that comprises a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99%, or about 100% identity to at least 50, at least 100, at least 150, at least 200, at least 250, or at least 300 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202 operably linked to a gene of interest.

The gene of interest can be operably linked at its 5′ end to a terminator. A terminator used in an expression cassette can be any terminator that functions in a host cell. As demonstrated herein, terminator sequences can function in hosts unrelated to the host species from which the terminator is derived. Thus, as non-limiting examples, terminator sequences from fungi, plants, heterokonts, and algae are considered for use in an expression cassette that includes a promoter comprising a sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202, including terminators disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,883,993, US2013/0323780, and those disclosed herein as SEQ ID NOs:71-78.

For example, an expression cassette as provided herein can include a promoter positioned upstream of and operably linked to the gene to be expressed, where the promoter comprises a nucleic acid sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202, and where the gene of interest is also operably linked to any terminator listed in TABLE 7, where the terminator is positioned downstream of the gene. Non-limiting examples of the expression cassettes provided herein include any of those described in Examples 2-7 of the disclosure.

The basic techniques for operably linking two or more sequences of DNA together are familiar to the skilled worker, and such methods have been described in a number of texts for standard molecular biological manipulation (see, for example, Maniatis et al., “Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual” 2^(nd) ed. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.; and Gibson et al., Nature Methods 6:343-45, 2009).

The promoters of the disclosure can be used with any heterologous or homologous gene(s). A heterologous or homologous gene according to the present disclosure may encode a protein or polypeptide. Any known or later-discovered heterologous or homologous gene which encodes a desired gene product can be operably linked to a promoter sequence of the present disclosure using known methods. Non-limiting examples of genes that may be in expression constructs with the promoters of the present disclosure include genes encoding proteins associated with genome editing (e.g., a cas nuclease, TALEN, or meganuclease), abiotic stress resistance; disease resistance; herbicide tolerance, toxin tolerance; carbohydrate metabolism; cell wall composition, growth rate, isoprenoid metabolism; amino acid metabolism; biomass metabolism; fatty acid/lipid metabolism; nitrogen utilization metabolism; photosynthetic capacity; or production of a biopolymer, a biofuel molecule, an enzyme, a flavor compound, a pharmaceutical compound, a pigment, an antioxidant, or a heterologous polypeptide.

For example, in some embodiments, an expression cassette can comprise a promoter as described herein (for example, a promoter comprising a nucleotide sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202) operably linked to a gene encoding a polypeptide, where the polypeptide can be any polypeptide of interest, and in illustrative and non-limiting examples, can be a protein associated with biosynthetic pathway of interest.

For example, a promoter as described herein can be operably linked to a gene encoding a polypeptide such as a transcription factor, DNA binding protein, splicing factor, nuclease (including, without limitation, an RNA-guided endonuclease such as a cas protein of a CRISPR system), a recombinase (e.g., a cre or flp recombinase), a G protein, a nucleotide cyclase, a phosphodiesterase, a kinase, a polypeptide of that participates in protein secretion or protein trafficking, a structural protein, a hormone, a cytokine, an antibody, a transporter, or an enzyme, such as but not limited to an enzyme having lypolytic activity, a thioesterase, an amidase, a lipase, a fatty acid synthase or a component of a fatty acid synthase complex, a pfaA, pfaB, pfaC, pfaD, or pfaE polypeptide, an acyl-CoA synthetase, an acyl-ACP synthetase, an acyl carrier protein, an acyl-CoA carboxylase, an acyl transferase, an enzyme that participates in glycolysis, a dehydrogenase, an enzyme of the TCA cycle, a fatty acid desaturase, or a fatty acid elongase.

In further examples, an expression cassette can comprise a promoter as described herein (for example, a promoter comprising a nucleotide sequence having at least 80% identity to at least 50 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202) operably linked to a gene encoding a functional RNA, optionally wherein the functional RNA is a tRNA, a rRNA, a small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA), a ribozyme, an antisense RNA (asRNA), a micro RNA (miRNA), a short hairpin RNA (shRNA), a small interfering RNA (siRNA), a piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA), a transactivating (tr) RNA of a CRISPR system, a crispr (cr) RNA of a CRISPR system, or a chimeric guide RNA of a CRISPR system.

In some embodiments, a nucleic acid construct as provided herein can include a heterologous nucleic acid sequence that encodes a polypeptide or functional RNA that is operably linked at its 5′ end to a promoter as provided herein that mediates gene expression in a labyrinthulomycetes species, and to a terminator as provided herein (e.g., a terminator having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99%, or about 100% identity to at least 50, at least 100 or at least 150 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 71-78) at its 3′ end. The construct can be functional in a labyrinthulomycetes species. In some embodiments, the terminator is selected from the group consisting of S. cerevisiae ADH1 terminator, S. cerevisiae ENO2 terminator, S. cerevisiae PDC1 terminator, S. cerevisiae PGK1 terminator, S. cerevisiae TDH3 terminator, S. cerevisiae TEF1 terminator, S. cerevisiae CYC1 terminator, and simian virus SV40 terminator. In some embodiments, the terminator includes a sequence having at least 90% or at least 95% sequence identity to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:71-78 set forth in the Sequence Listing.

Vectors

The present disclosure also provides vectors that can comprise one or more of the regulatory elements and/or expression cassettes described herein. The vectors can comprise the expression cassettes described herein and further include at least one origin of replication (“ORI”) sequence for replication in a cell. The vectors may further optionally comprise one or more selectable markers under the control of one or more eukaryotic promoters, one or more selectable markers under the control of one or more prokaryotic promoters, and/or one or more sequences that mediate recombination of an exogenous nucleic acid sequence into the target cell's genome.

An ORI is the sequence in a DNA molecule at which replication begins. The ORI serves as a base of assembly for the pre-replication complex. Depending on the ORI, such replication can proceed unidirectionally or bidirectionally. An expression vector as provided herein can include an ORI for replication of the expression vector in a cloning host, such as E. coli or Saccharomyces, and/or can include an ORI for replication of the expression vector in a target cell, which can be, for example, a Labyrinthulomycetes cell. The structural biology of ORIs is widely conserved among prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and viruses. Most ORIs possess simple tri-, tetra-, or higher nucleotide repetition patterns. Most are AT-rich and contain inverted repeats. Those skilled in the art will be familiar with the more common ORIs, such as P15A and the pUC's ORI.

A vector may also carry a selectable marker. By way of example, a vector that includes an expression cassette may include, as a selectable marker, a gene conferring resistance to a poisonous substance, such as an antibiotic, a herbicide, or some other toxin, so that transformants can be selected by exposing the cells to the poison and selecting those cells which survive the encounter. Non-limiting examples of selectable markers include genes conferring resistance to antibiotics such as amikacin (aphA6), ampicillin (ampR), blasticidin (bls, bsr, bsd), bleomicin or phleomycin (ZEOCIN™) (ble), chloramphenicol (cat), emetine (RBS 14p or cry1-1), erythromycin (ermE), G418 (GENETICIN™) (neo), gentamycin (aac3 or aacC4), hygromycin B (aphIV, hph, hpt), kanamycin (ntpII), methotrexate (DHFR mtxR), penicillin and other β-lactams (β-lactamases), streptomycin or spectinomycin (aadA, spec/strep), and tetracycline (tetA, tetM, tetQ); genes conferring resistance to herbicides such as aminotriazole, amitrole, andrimid, aryloxyphenoxy propionates, atrazines (psbA), bipyridyliums, bromoxynil, cyclohexandione oximes dalapon, dicamba, diclfop, dichlorophenyl dimethyl urea (DCMU), difunone, diketonitriles, diuron, fluridone, glufosinate, glyphosate, halogenated hydrobenzonitriles, haloxyfop, 4-hydroxypyridines, imidazolinones, isoxasflutole, isoxazoles, isoxazolidinones, miroamide B, p-nitrodiphenylethers, norflurazon, oxadiazoles, m-phenoxybenzamides, N-phenyl imides, pinoxadin, protoporphyrionogen oxidase inhibitors, pyridazinones, pyrazolinates, sulfonylureas, 1,2,4-triazol pyrimidine, triketones, or urea compounds; including genes encoding enzymes that provide resistance or tolerance to herbicides as acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACCase), acetohydroxy acid synthase (ahas), acetolactate synthase (als, csr1-1, csr1-2, imr1, imr2), aminoglycoside phosphotransferase (apt), anthranilate synthase, bromoxynil nitrilase (bxn), cytochrome P450-NADH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase, dalapon dehalogenase (dehal), dihydropteroate synthase (sul), class I 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), class II EPSPS (aroA), non-class I/II EPSPS, glutathione reductase, glyphosate acetyltransferase (gat), glyphosate oxidoreductase (gox), hydroxyphenylpyruvate dehydrogenase, hydroxy-phenylpyruvate dioxygenase (hppd), isoprenyl pyrophosphate isomerase, lycopene cyclase, phosphinothricin acetyl transferase (pat, bar), phytoene desaturase (crtI), prenyl transferase, protoporphyrin oxidase, psbA of photosystem II (psbA), SMM esterase (SulE) superoxide dismutase (sod); genes that may be used in auxotrophic strains or to confer autotrophic growth or other metabolic effects, such as arg7, his3, hisD, hisG, lysA, manA, metE, nit1, trpB, ura3, xylA, a dihydrofolate reductase gene, a mannose-6-phosphate isomerase gene, a nitrate reductase gene, or an ornithine decarboxylase gene; a negative selection factor such as thymidine kinase; or toxin resistance factors such as a 2-deoxyglucose resistance gene; and an R-locus gene. The selectable marker gene can be operably linked to a promoter as provided herein.

In some embodiments, the selectable marker may be under the control of a promoter including but not limited to a promoter as provided herein. In some embodiments, the promoter regulating expression of the selectable marker may be conditional or inducible. In some embodiments, the promoter regulating expression of the selectable marker may be preferably constitutive, and can be, for example, any promoter disclosed herein or another promoter. Alternatively, the selectable marker may be placed under the control of the expression cassette promoter. If a selectable marker is placed under the control of the expression cassette promoter, the selectable marker and the expression cassette may be operably linked with an internal ribosome entry site (“IRES”) element between the expression cassette and the selectable marker (Komar & Hatzoglou, Cell Cycle 10:229-240, 2011; and Hellen & Sarnow, Genes & Dev. 15:1593-1612, 2001) or a “2A” sequence (Kim et al. PLoS One 6(4):e18556, 2011).

Further provided herein is a vector for transformation of a eukaryotic cell, such as but not limited to a labyrinthulomycetes cell, in which the vector includes a selectable marker gene operably linked to a promoter as provided herein, for example, a promoter that includes a nucleotide sequence having at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99%, or about 100% identity to at least 50, at least 100, at least 200, at least 300, at least 400, at least 500, at least 600, at least 700, or at least 800 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202, or a promoter that comprises any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-70 and 180-202. The transformation can further include one or more additional genes or constructs for transfer into the host cell, such as a gene encoding a polypeptide such as but not limited to any disclosed hereinabove or a construct encoding a functional RNA, where the gene encoding a polypeptide or functional RNA can optionally be operably linked to a promoter as described herein, or can optionally be operably linked to another promoter.

In an alternative transformation strategy, a selectable marker operably linked to a promoter such as a promoter described herein can be provided on a separate construct, where both the gene-of-interest construct and the selectable marker construct are used together in transformation protocols. Selected transformants are then analyzed for co-transformation of the construct that includes the gene-of-interest (see, for example, Kindle Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87:1228-1232, 1990).

If a vector as provided herein that includes an expression cassette lacks a selectable marker gene, transformants may be selected by routine methods familiar to those skilled in the art, such as, by way of a non-limiting example, extracting nucleic acid from the putative transformants and screening by PCR. Alternatively or in addition, transformants may be screened by detecting expression of a reporter gene, such as but not limited to a chloramphenicol acyltransferase gene (cat) lacZ, uidA, xylE, an alkaline phosphatase gene, an α-amylase gene, an α-galactosidase gene, a β-lactamase gene, a β-glucuronidase gene, a horseradish peroxidase gene, a luciferin/luciferase gene, an R-locus gene, a tyrosinase gene, or a gene encoding a fluorescent protein, such as any of the green, yellow, red, blue, cyan, photo-convertable, or photo-switchable fluorescent proteins or any of their variants, including codon-optimized, rapidly folding, monomeric, increased stability, and enhanced fluorescence variants. In some embodiments, a reporter gene used in a vector may optionally be regulated by a promoter as provided herein. In some embodiments, a transformation vector may include a gene encoding a reporter, such as, for example, a fluorescent protein, operably linked to a promoter as provided herein.

In some embodiments, the vector is designed for integration of one or more genes (such as the expression cassette) into the host genome. For example, the expression vectors may include Agrobacterium flanking sequences designed for integrating transgenes into the genome of a target plant cell. In other embodiments, vectors can be targeted for integration into a labyrinthulomycetes' chromosome by including flanking sequences that enable homologous recombination into the chromosome or targeted for integration into endogenous host plasmids by including flanking sequences that enable homologous recombination into the endogenous plasmids. Further, a transformation vector can include sequences for site-specific recombination such as but not limited to lox sites that are acted on by the “cre” recombinase.

In addition to the promoters provided herein, one skilled in the art would know various promoters, introns, enhancers, transit peptides, targeting signal sequences, 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions (UTRs), IRES, 2A sequences, and terminator sequences, as well as other molecules involved in the regulation of gene expression that are useful in the design of effective expression vectors. In some embodiments, the expression vector will contain one or more enhancer elements. Enhancers are short regions of DNA that can bind trans-acting factors to enhance transcription levels. Although enhancers usually act in cis, an enhancer need not be particularly close to its target gene, and may sometimes not be located on the same chromosome (e.g. acting in trans). Enhancers can sometimes be located in introns.

In some embodiments, a gene or genes encoding enzymes that participate in the synthesis of a fatty acid product (e.g., a fatty acid, a fatty acid derivative, or a glycerolipid) is cloned into the vector as an expression cassette that includes a promoter as disclosed herein. The expression cassette may optionally include a transit peptide-encoding sequence for directing the expressed enzyme to the endoplasmic reticulum of transformed eukaryotic cells, an intron sequence, a sequence having a poly-adenylation signal, etc.

In a further embodiment, a vector is provided comprising an expression cassette as described herein, wherein the vector further comprises one or more of: a selectable marker gene, an origin of replication, and one or more sequences for promoting integration of the expression cassette into the host genome.

In a further embodiment, a vector is provided comprising an isolated, synthetic or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as described herein, wherein the nucleic acid molecule is operably linked to a nucleic acid sequence encoding a selectable marker or a reporter protein, such as, for example, any reporter protein described herein. In a particular embodiment, the vector further comprises one or more of: an origin of replication, one or more sequences for promoting integration of the expression cassette into the host genome, a sequence as reported herein that comprises a terminator, or an additional gene, wherein the additional gene encodes a ribosomal RNA, a tRNA, a ribozyme, a transactivating (tr) RNA of a CRISPR system, a crispr (cr) RNA of a CRISPR system, a chimeric guide RNA of a CRISPR system, a micro RNA, an interfering RNA (RNAi) molecule, a short hairpin (sh) RNA, an antisense RNA molecule, a structural protein, an enzyme, a transcription factor, or a transporter.

C. Transformation Methods

The present disclosure provides transformation methods in which a eukaryotic cell is transformed with an expression vector as described herein. The transformation methods comprise introducing an expression vector as provided herein that includes a promoter as disclosed herein operably linked to a selectable marker gene into a host cell and then selecting for a transformant. General procedures, systems, and methods of transforming prokaryotic and eukaryotic host cells are well known in the art. See, e.g., Maniatis et al., 2009, supra, 2^(nd) NY, 2009; and Sambrook et al., 1989, supra. The expression cassettes and vectors as provided herein may be introduced into a host cell by many methods familiar to those skilled in the art including, as non-limiting examples: natural DNA uptake (Chung et al., FEMS Microbial. Lett. 164:353-361, 1988); conjugation (Wolk et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81, 1561-1565, 1984); transduction; glass bead transformation (Kindle et al., J. Cell Biol. 109:2589-601, 1989); silicon carbide whisker transformation (Dunahay et al., Methods Mol. Biol. 62:503-9, 1997); biolistics (Dawson et al., Curr. Microbiol. 35:356-62, 1997); electroporation (Kjaerulff et al., Photosynth. Res. 41:277-283, 1994); laser-mediated transformation; or incubation with DNA in the presence of or after pre-treatment with any of poly(amidoamine) dendrimers (Pasupathy et al., Biotechnol. J. 3:1078-82, 2008), polyethylene glycol (Ohnuma et al., Plant Cell Physiol. 49:117-120, 2008), cationic lipids (Muradawa et al., J. Biosci. Bioeng. 105:77-80, 2008), dextran, calcium phosphate, or calcium chloride (Mendez-Alvarez et al., J. Bacteriol. 176:7395-7397, 1994), optionally after treatment of the cells with cell wall-degrading enzymes (Perrone et al., Mol. Biol. Cell 9:3351-3365, 1998.

In principle, the methods and molecules according to the present disclosure can be deployed for genetically engineering any prokaryotic or eukaryotic species, including, but not limited to, bacteria, chytrids, microfungi, and microalgae. Host cells to be transformed can be either untransformed cells or cells that are already transformed with at least one nucleic acid molecule. The methods and compositions are preferably used with microorganisms that are important or interesting for aquaculture, agriculture, for the production of biomass used in production of fatty acid molecules and other chemicals. In particular, a cell used in any of the methods herein can be, in some embodiments, of a heterokont strain of the labyrinthulomycetes class. While the classification of the Thraustochytrids and Labyrinthulids has evolved over the years, for the purposes of the present application, “labyrinthulomycetes” is a comprehensive term that includes microorganisms of the orders Thraustochytrids and Labyrinthulids, and includes the genera Althornia, Aplanochytrium, Aurantiochytrium, Corallochytrium, Diplophryids, Diplophrys, Elina, Japonochytrium, Labyrinthula, Labryinthuloides, Oblongichytrium, Pyrrhosorus, Schizochytrium, Thraustochytrium, and Ulkenia.

Non-limiting examples of preferred species include, for instance, microorganisms from the genera including, but not limited to Aplanochytrium, Aurantiochytrium, Thraustochytrium, Labyrinthuloides, Japonochytrium, Ulkenia, and Schizochytrium. Particularly suitable species are within the genera including, but are not limited to: any Aurantiochytrium species, including but not limited to any disclosed herein, such as, for example, WH-06267 and WH-05628; any Schizochytrium species, including Schizochytrium aggregatum, Schizochytrium limacinum, Schizochytrium minutum; any Thraustochytrium species (including former Ulkenia species such as U. visurgensis, U. amoeboida, U. sarkariana, U. profunda, U. radiata, U. minuta and Ulkenia sp. BP-5601), and including Thraustochytrium striatum, Thraustochytrium aureum, Thraustochytrium roseum; and any Japonochytrium species. Strains of Thraustochytriales particularly suitable for the present disclosure include, but are not limited to: Schizochytrium sp. S31)(ATCC 20888); Schizochytrium sp. S8 (ATCC 20889); Schizochytrium sp. LC-RM (ATCC 18915); Schizochytrium sp. SR21; Schizochytrium aggregatum ATCC 28209; Schizochytrium limacinum IFO 32693; Thraustochytrium sp. 23B ATCC 20891; Thraustochytrium striatum ATCC 24473; Thraustochytrium aureum ATCC 34304; Thraustochytrium roseum ATCC 28210; and Japonochytrium sp. L1 ATCC 28207.

Eukaryotic host cells, such as any of the cells disclosed hereinabove transformed with a molecule or construct of the present disclosure are also provided herein. Therefore, in one embodiment, a recombinant eukaryotic cell is provided comprising an isolated or recombinant nucleic acid molecule as described herein or an expression cassette as described herein, or a vector as described herein. In some embodiments, transformed cell cultures can be diluted, plated on agar, and allowed to grow until isolated colonies can be selected for further propagation as clonal strain.

D. Bioproducts

In one aspect, some embodiments disclosed herein relate to methods for producing a bioproduct. Such methods involve culturing a recombinant cell harboring an isolated, synthetic, or recombinant nucleic acid molecule according to any one of the preceding aspects and embodiments, and producing the bioproduct therefrom. In some embodiments, such methods further include recovering the bioproduct from the cultured cells.

Thus, also provided herein is a bioproduct produced by a method according to this aspect of the disclosure. In some embodiments, the bioproduct can be a lipid product. In some embodiments, the lipid product disclosed herein includes one or more PUFAs. In some embodiments, the one or more PUFAs include an omega-3 PUFA or an omega-6 PUFA. In some embodiments, the one or more PUFAs include arachidonic acid (ARA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), or a combination of any thereof.

Bioproducts of the disclosure include, but are not limited to, food products, feed products, medicinal and pharmaceutical compositions, cosmetics, and industrial products.

A food product that may include labyrinthulomycetes oil derived from an engineered labyrinthulomycetes microorganism as provided herein includes both solid and liquid bioproduct. A food product can be an additive to animal or human foods. Foods include, but are not limited to, common foods; liquid products, including milks, beverages, therapeutic drinks, and nutritional drinks; functional foods; supplements; nutraceuticals; infant formulas, including formulas for pre-mature infants; foods for pregnant or nursing women; foods for adults; geriatric foods; and animal foods.

A labyrinthulomycetes biomass or microbial oil derived from an engineered labyrinthulomycetes microorganism as described herein can be used directly as or included as an additive within one or more of: an oil, shortening, spread, other fatty ingredient, beverage, sauce, dairy-based or soy-based food (such as milk, yogurt, cheese and ice-cream), a baked good, a nutritional product, e.g., as a nutritional supplement (in capsule or tablet form), a vitamin supplement, a diet supplement, a powdered drink, a finished or semi-finished powdered food product, and combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, the bioproduct is an animal feed, including without limitation, feed for aquatic animals and terrestrial animals. In some embodiments, the bioproduct is a feed or feed supplement for any animal whose meat or products are consumed by humans, such as any animal from which meat, eggs, or milk is derived for human consumption. When fed to such animals, nutrients such as LC-PUFAs can be incorporated into the flesh, milk, eggs or other products of such animals to increase their content of these nutrients.

In some embodiments, the bioproduct is a pharmaceutical composition. Suitable pharmaceutical compositions include, but are not limited to, an anti-inflammatory composition, a drug for treatment of coronary heart disease, a drug for treatment of arteriosclerosis, a chemotherapeutic agent, an active excipient, an osteoporosis drug, an anti-depressant, an anti-convulsant, an anti-Helicobacter pylori drug, a drug for treatment of neurodegenerative disease, a drug for treatment of degenerative liver disease, an antibiotic, a cholesterol lowering composition, and a triglyceride lowering composition. In some embodiments, the bioproduct is a medical food. A medical food includes a food that is in a composition to be consumed or administered externally under the supervision of a physician and that is intended for the specific dietary management of a condition, for which distinctive nutritional requirements, based on recognized scientific principles, are established by medical evaluation.

The labyrinthulomycetes oil or microbial oil derived from an engineered labyrinthulomycetes microorganism as described herein can be formulated in a dosage form. Dosage forms can include, but are not limited to, tablets, capsules, cachets, pellets, pills, powders and granules, and parenteral dosage forms, which include, but are not limited to, solutions, suspensions, emulsions, and dry powders comprising an effective amount of the microbial oil. It is also known in the art that such formulations can also contain pharmaceutically acceptable diluents, fillers, disintegrants, binders, lubricants, surfactants, hydrophobic vehicles, water soluble vehicles, emulsifiers, buffers, humectants, moisturizers, solubilizers, preservatives and the like. Administration forms can include, but are not limited to, tablets, dragees, capsules, caplets, and pills, which contain the microbial oil and one or more suitable pharmaceutically acceptable carriers.

For oral administration, the labyrinthulomycetes oil or microbial oil derived from an engineered labyrinthulomycetes microorganism as described herein can be combined with pharmaceutically acceptable carriers well known in the art. Such carriers enable the microbial oils of the invention to be formulated as tablets, pills, dragees, capsules, liquids, gels, syrups, slurries, suspensions and the like, for oral ingestion by a subject to be treated. In some embodiments, the dosage form is a tablet, pill or caplet. Pharmaceutical preparations for oral use can be obtained by adding a solid excipient, optionally grinding the resulting mixture, and processing the mixture of granules, after adding suitable auxiliaries, if desired, to obtain tablets or dragee cores. Suitable excipients include, but are not limited to, fillers such as sugars, including, but not limited to, lactose, sucrose, mannitol, and sorbitol; cellulose preparations such as, but not limited to, maize starch, wheat starch, rice starch, potato starch, gelatin, gum tragacanth, methyl cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). If desired, disintegrating agents can be added, such as, but not limited to, the cross-linked polyvinyl pyrrolidone, agar, or alginic acid or a salt thereof such as sodium alginate. Pharmaceutical preparations that can be used orally include, but are not limited to, push-fit capsules made of gelatin, as well as soft, sealed capsules made of gelatin and a plasticizer, such as glycerol or sorbitol.

In further embodiments, the bioproduct is a cosmetic. Cosmetics include, but are not limited to, emulsions, creams, lotions, masks, soaps, shampoos, washes, facial creams, conditioners, make-ups, bath agents, and dispersion liquids. Cosmetic agents can be medicinal or non-medicinal.

All publications and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

No admission is made that any reference cited herein constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinence of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of information sources, including scientific journal articles, patent documents, and textbooks, are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents forms part of the common general knowledge in the art.

The discussion of the general methods given herein is intended for illustrative purposes only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual aspects or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. It is expressly contemplated that any aspect or feature of the present disclosure can be combined with any other aspect, features, or combination of aspects and features disclosed herein. Other alternative methods and embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon review of this disclosure, and are to be included within the spirit and purview of this application.

EXAMPLES

Additional embodiments are disclosed in further detail in the following examples, which are not in any way intended to limit the scope of the claims.

Example 1 Labyrinthulomycetes Strains and Culture Media

Labyrinthulomycetes strains used in the present disclosure were Aurantiochytrium sp. SGI-i886, which was described previously as WH-5628 strain in U.S. application Ser. No. 14/720,679 and PCT Pub. No. WO2015/179844, and Schizochytrium sp. SGI-i94.

Compositions of media used in the experiments described below study are the following.

1) FM002 growth medium contained 17 g/L Instant Ocean salts (Aquatic Eco Systems, Apopka, Fla.), 10 g/L yeast extract, 10 g/L Peptone, and 10 g/L Dextrose.

2) FM005 growth medium contained 17 g/L Instant Ocean salts (Aquatic Eco Systems, Apopka, Fla.), 1 g/L mono-Potassium Phosphate (KH₂PO₄), 6 g/L ammonium sulfate [(NH₄)₂SO₄]; 0.5 g/L potassium chloride (KCl), 250 ml/L of MES Hydrate solution (800 mM, pH 5.8), 80 ml/L of 50% Dextrose solution, 5 ml/L of MgSO₄.7H₂O stock solution (in 34 g/L in Instant Ocean), 5 g/L of DG Trace Metals solution, and 1 g/L of DG Vitamin solution. The growth medium was adjusted with NaOH pellets to pH 5.8. The DG Trace Metals solution contained 6 g/L EDTA di-sodium salt (Na₂EDTA.2H₂O); 0.29 g/L iron chloride (FeCl₃.6H₂O); 6.84 g/L boric acid (H₂BO₃); 1 ml/L sodium molybdenate stock solution (Na₂MoO₄.2H₂O, 5 g/L); 0.86 g/L manganese chloride (MnCl₂.4H₂O); 1 ml/L zinc chloride stock solution ((ZnCl₂, 60 g/L); 1 ml/L cobalt chloride stock solution (CoCl₂.6H₂O, 26 g/L); 1 ml/L copper sulfate stock solution (CuSO₄.5H₂O, 2 g/L); and 1 ml/L nickel sulfate stock solution (NiSO₄.6H₂O, 60 g/L). The DG Vitamins solution contained 200 mg/L thiamine, 10 ml/L biotin stock solution (0.1 g/L); and 1 ml/L stock solution of Vitamin B₁₂ cyanocobalamin (1 g/L).

3) FM006 growth medium contained 17 g/L Instant Ocean salts (Aquatic Eco Systems, Apopka, Fla.), 1 g/L mono potassium phosphate KH₂PO₄, 1.65 g/L ammonium sulfate [(NH₄)₂SO₄], 0.5 g/L potassium chloride (KCl), 250 ml/L of MES Hydrate solution (800 mM, pH 5.8), 80 ml/L of 50% Dextrose solution, 5 ml/L of MgSO₄.7H₂O stock solution (34 g/L in Instant Ocean), 5 g/L of DG Trace Metals solution, and 1 g/L of DG Vitamin solution. The growth medium was adjusted with NaOH pellets to pH 5.8.

Example 2 Evaluation of Aurantiochytrium sp. SGI-i886 Gene Expression by Transcriptomics Study

This Example describes the experimental characterization and evaluation of several promoter sequences derived from strain SGI-i886 based on average coverage of the cDNA in next-generation sequencing (NGS) data of the transcriptomes of the strain SGI-i886 during mid- to late-log phase of growth.

Replicate flasks (n=2) of strain SGI-i886 were grown in nitrogen-deplete and control (that is, nitrogen-replete) media, respectively. Each flask was sampled for transcriptomics analysis at 0, 2, and 24 hours. A total of 12 polyA-selected mRNA samples were prepared for next-generation RNA sequencing. The transcript abundance was evaluated during the growth phase, i.e. at the 2-hour time point in nitrogen-replete growth conditions in the transcriptomics experiments.

RNA was isolated by pelleting approximately 10⁷ cells and lysing by pipetting up and down in 1 mL Trizol reagent. Insoluble material was removed from the lysate by centrifugation at 12,000×g for 10 min. at 4° C. The cleared supernatant was removed to a fresh tube and incubated at room temperature (RT) for 5 min before extracting with chloroform by adding 0.2 mL chloroform to mL of the cleared Trizol lysate. The tubes were capped securely and vigorously shaken for 15 seconds, then incubated at RT for 2-3 min. The samples were then centrifuged at no more than 12,000×g for 15 minutes at 4° C. Following centrifugation the mixture was separated into a lower (red) phenol-chloroform phase, an interface, and a colorless upper aqueous phase. The aqueous phase containing the RNA was transferred to a fresh tube and precipitate by adding 0.5 ml of isopropanol per 1 ml of aqueous phase, incubating the samples at RT for 10 minutes, and centrifuging at no more than 12,000×g for 15 minutes at 4° C. The RNA precipitate, often invisible before centrifugation, formed a gel-like pellet on the whole wall. The supernatant was removed completely, then the pellet was washed twice with 1.5 mL 75% ethanol. The sample was mixed by flicking the tube, and centrifugations were at no more than 7500×g for 5 minutes at 4° C. The twice-washed RNA pellets were allowed to air dry for 7 min, then dissolved in 50 to 100 L of DEPC-treated water for 10 min at 55° C. Samples were stored at −80° C.

Next-generation sequencing libraries were prepared from the isolated RNA and sequenced using sequencing-by-synthesis (Illumina) to generate 100 bp paired-end reads using the mRNA-Seq procedure described in Mortazavi et al. (Nature Methods 5:621-628, 2008). Mappable reads were aligned to the Aurantiochytrium sp. SGI-i886 reference genome sequence using tophat (tophat.cbcb.umd.edu/). Expression levels were computed for every annotated gene using the Cuffdiff component of the Cufflinks software (cufflinks.cbcb.umd.edu). Tophat and Cufflinks are described in Trapnell et al. (Nature Protocols 7: 562-578, 2012). Differential expression analysis was performed using the R package edger (McCarthy et al., Nucl. Acids Res. May; 40(10):4288-97, 2012). Expression levels in units of “fragments per kilobase per million” (FPKM) were reported for every gene in each sample using standard parameters. In this experiment, FPKM was a measure of relative transcriptional levels that normalizes for differences in transcript length.

The average sequencing coverage, shown for eight different genes in Table 1, measured in terms of FPKM according to a procedure described in Mortazavi et al. (Nature Methods 5:621-28, 2008), corresponds to the transcript abundance of each gene. In RNA sequencing experiments, the relative expression of a transcript was predicted to be proportional to the number of cDNA fragments that originated from it.

TABLE 1 Transcript abundance of genes associated with promoter sequences identified as strong constitutive promoters. Avg. Coverage Gene Description (FPKM) Neighbor of BRCA1 gene 1 (NBR1), transcript variant 1 4581 Eft2p GTPasel translation elongation factor 2 (EF-2) 3907 40S ribosomal protein S3a 3744 Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A isoform IV 2967 60S ribosomal protein L9; Conserved predicted protein 2839 Actin A 2500 Heat shock protein 70 2422 Translation elongation factor 1-alpha 2382 60S ribosomal protein L26 1664 Tubulin alpha chain 1164

Example 3 Construction of Expression Cassettes and Transformation Vectors

Promoter regions were identified in the sequenced genomes of two labyrinthulomycetes strains isolated from marine environments, Aurantiochytrium sp. strain SGI-i886 and Schizochytrium sp. strain SGI-i94. The genomes of these strains were sequenced and regions of between approximately 500 bp and approximately 2 kb extending upstream (5′) of the initiating methionine codon of bioinformatically identified genes were selected as comprising promoters, as listed in Table 2 (Aurantiochytrium promoter sequences) and Table 3 (Schizochytrium promoter sequences). To evaluate their ability to regulate expression of operably linked heterologous genes, these promoters were cloned into expression vectors, such that the 3′ end of the putative promoter fragment corresponded to the 3′-most by of the 5′ untranslated region of the corresponding chytrid gene (that is, the 3′ end of each promoter fragment was the nucleotide immediately upstream of the initiating ATG codon of the identified gene).

TABLE 2 Promoters isolated from Aurantiochytrium strain SGI-i886. When marked “short”, the promoters were shortened from the 5′ end of the corresponding full-length promoters. Promoter Length Expression Gene Name (bp) SEQ ID NO Construct Neighbor of BRCA1 gene 1 (NBR1), transcript 1057 SEQ ID NO: 1 pSGI-JU-80-1 variant 1; allele 1 Neighbor of BRCA1 gene 1 (NBR1), transcript 1000 SEQ ID NO: 2 pSGI-JU-80-6 variant 1; allele 6 Eft2p GTPasel translation elongation factor 2 (EF-2); 927 SEQ ID NO: 3 pSGI-JU-81-3 allele 3 Eft2p GTPasel translation elongation factor 2 (EF-2); 924 SEQ ID NO: 4 pSGI-JU-81-8 allele 8 40S ribosomal protein S3a (S3-a); allele 2 655 SEQ ID NO: 5 pSGI-JU-82-2 40S ribosomal protein S3a (S3-a); allele 5 655 SEQ ID NO: 6 pSGI-JU-82-5 Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A isoform IV 1000 SEQ ID NO: 7 pSGI-JU-83-1 (IF-5a); allele 1 Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A isoform IV 1004 SEQ ID NO: 8 pSGI-JU-83-2 (IF-5a); allele 2 60S ribosomal protein L9; Conserved predicted protein 860 SEQ ID NO: 9 pSGI-JU-84-1 protein (RPL9); allele 1 60S ribosomal protein L9; Conserved predicted protein 864 SEQ ID NO: 10 pSGI-JU-84-6 protein (RPL9); allele 6 Actin A complement of Actin-1/3 (ActA); allele 3 492 SEQ ID NO: 11 pSGI-JU-85-3 Actin A complement of Actin-1/3 (ActA); allele 6 492 SEQ ID NO: 12 pSGI-JU-85-9 Actin A complement of Actin-1/3 (ActA); allele 8 492 SEQ ID NO: 13 pSGI-JU-85-8 Heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) 1000 SEQ ID NO: 14 pSGI-JU-86 Translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1a); allele 4 1031 SEQ ID NO: 15 pSGI-JU-87-4 Translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1a); allele 7 1026 SEQ ID NO: 16 pSGI-JU-87-7 60S ribosomal protein L26 (RPL26); allele 5 1000 SEQ ID NO: 17 pSGI-JU-88-5 60S ribosomal protein L26 (RPL26); allele 7 996 SEQ ID NO: 18 pSGI-JU-88-7 Tubulin alpha (Tubα); allele 1 1002 SEQ ID NO: 19 pSGI-JU-89-1 Tubulin alpha (Tubα); allele 6 997 SEQ ID NO: 20 pSGI-JU-89-6 Actin (Act); allele 4 1784 SEQ ID NO: 33 pSGI-JU-180-4 Actin (Act); allele 5 1776 SEQ ID NO: 34 pSGI-JU-180-5 Actin (Act); allele 6 1776 SEQ ID NO: 35 pSGI-JU-180-6 Elongation factor 1-alpha 1 (EF1alpha) 2048 SEQ ID NO: 36 pSGI-JU-181 60S ribosomal protein L6 (RPL6) 1792 SEQ ID NO: 37 pSGI-JU-182 Actin depolymerase (Adp); allele A 1739 SEQ ID NO: 38 pSGI-JU-183A Actin depolymerase (Adp); allele B 1729 SEQ ID NO: 39 pSGI-JU-183B Adenosylhomocysteinase (AHC) 1885 SEQ ID NO: 40 pSGI-JU-184 Alternative oxidase (AOX); allele B 2015 SEQ ID NO: 41 pSGI-JU-185B Alternative oxidase (AOX); allele C 1961 SEQ ID NO: 42 pSGI-JU-185C Cytochrome C oxidase (cox); allele A 1764 SEQ ID NO: 43. pSGI-JU-186A Cytochrome C oxidase (cox); allele C 1764 SEQ ID NO: 44 pSGI-JU-186C Elongation factor 1-beta (EF1beta) 1774 SEQ ID NO: 45 pSGI-JU-187 Fa ATP synthase (faas) 1973 SEQ ID NO: 46 pSGI-JU-188 Heavy metal associated domain (HMA); allele A 1971 SEQ ID NO: 47 pSGI-JU-189A Heavy metal associated domain (HMA); allele B 1930 SEQ ID NO: 48 pSGI-JU-189B Mitochondrial chaperonin 60 (hsp60); allele A 1888 SEQ ID NO: 49 pSGI-JU-190A Mitochondrial chaperonin 60 (hsp60); allele B 1838 SEQ ID NO: 50 pSGI-JU-190B Phosphotidylinsositol 3-kinase (PI3K); allele A 1635 SEQ ID NO: 51 pSGI-JU-191A Phosphotidylinsositol 3-kinase (PI3K); allele B 1637 SEQ ID NO: 52 pSGI-JU-191B 60S ribosomal protein 11 (RPL11); allele B 1840 SEQ ID NO: 53 pSGI-JU-192B 60S ribosomal protein 11 (RPL11); allele C 1844 SEQ ID NO: 54 pSGI-JU-192C Small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) 1890 SEQ ID NO: 55 pSGI-JU-193 Transcriptionally-controlled tumor protein homolog 1956 SEQ ID NO: 56 pSGI-JU-194 (TCTP) Tetraspanin (Tsp); allele A 1700 SEQ ID NO: 57 pSGI-JU-195A Tetraspanin (Tsp); allele B 1680 SEQ ID NO: 58 pSGI-JU-195B Tubulin alpha (Tubα-738) 738 SEQ ID NO: 59 pSGI-JU-196 Tubulin alpha (Tubα-522) 522 SEQ ID NO: 60 pSGI-JU-197 Actin (act-1176) 1176 SEQ ID NO: 61 pSGI-JU-198 Actin (act-776) 776 SEQ ID NO: 62 pSGI-JU-199 Actin (act-557) 557 SEQ ID NO: 63 pSGI-JU-200 Fa ATP synthase short (faas-776) 776 SEQ ID NO: 64 pSGI-JU-188A-short Heavy metal associated domain short (HMA-796) 796 SEQ ID NO: 65 pSGI-JU-189A-short Mitochondrial chaperonin 60 short (hsp60-) 788 SEQ ID NO: 66 pSGI-JU-190A-short Phosphotidylinsositol 3-kinase short (PI3K-752) 752 SEQ ID NO: 67 pSGI-JU-191C-short 60s ribososomal protein 11 short (RPL11-699) 699 SEQ ID NO: 68 pSGI-JU-192B-short Tetraspanin short (Tsp-749) 749 SEQ ID NO: 69 pSGI-JU-195-short Actin depolymerase-short (Adp-830) 830 SEQ ID NO: 70 183A-short-short

TABLE 3 Promoters isolated from Schizochytrium strain SGI-i94. SEQ Expression Gene Name Length ID NO Construct Transcriptionally-controlled tumor protein 1000 SEQ ID NO: 21 pSGI-JU-98 homolog (TCTP) Acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase 2 (ACS2) 1163 SEQ ID NO: 22 pSGI-JU-99 Tubulin alpha (Tubα) 872 SEQ ID NO: 23 pSGI-JU-101 Heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) 1004 SEQ ID NO: 24 pSGI-JU-102 Transcription elongation factor 3 (EF-3) 1000 SEQ ID NO: 25 pSGI-JU-103 Hexose transporter 1 (HXT1) 1000 SEQ ID NO: 26 pSGI-JU-105 Catalase (cat) 1018 SEQ ID NO: 27 pSGI-JU-106 60S ribosomal protein L9 (RPL9) 994 SEQ ID NO: 28 pSGI-JU-107 40s ribosomal protein S3a (RPS3a) 1000 SEQ ID NO: 29 pSGI-JU-108 Tubulin beta chain (Tubβ) 1000 SEQ ID NO: 30 pSGI-JU-109 Superoxide dismutase (SOD) 976 SEQ ID NO: 31 pSGI-JU-110 Phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) 1033 SEQ ID NO: 32 pSGI-JU-111

The promoters provided in Tables 2 and 3 were cloned upstream of the reporter gene TurboGFP (SEQ ID NO:169; Evrogen, Moscow, Russia) to generate expression vectors for evaluation of promoter function in transgenic labyrinthulomycetes strains. The vectors also carried the nptII marker gene (SEQ ID NO:170) for selection of transformants on paromomycin-containing media. For cloning the promoter fragments into the expression vector backbone as described for various promoters below, the primer sequences provided in TABLE 4 were used.

TABLE 4 Primers used in synthesizing labyrinthulomycetes promoter expression constructs. SEQ Primer name Primer sequence ID NO oSGI-JU-0336 tgagagtgcaccataGGTTGGATTTCTCC SEQ ID TTTTTGCGTC NO: 79 oSGI-JU-0337 ctcgtcgctctcCATGTGACAACGGCCAG SEQ ID GAC NO: 80 oSGI-JU-0338 tgagagtgcaccataGTTAGCGCAGACCT SEQ ID AGCTGTATC NO: 81 oSGI-JU-0339 ctcgtcgctctcCATCTTGCTTTGCGATT SEQ ID TGTAGAGC NO: 82 oSGI-JU-0340 tgagagtgcaccataGCGAACGCCATAAT SEQ ID CAGCG NO: 83 oSGI-JU-0341 ctcgtcgctctcCATGGTTGCCTACTTCG SEQ ID CG NO: 84 oSGI-JU-0342 tgagagtgcaccataCCGCGCAAAACCGC SEQ ID CTTAATC NO: 85 oSGI-JU-0343 ctcgtcgctctcCATTTTTGATAAGTTTT SEQ ID GGGACTCGACG NO: 86 oSGI-JU-0344 tgagagtgcaccataTCCCTTTTAGCCAA SEQ ID TTTGCATATCTTCTAC NO: 87 oSGI-JU-0345 ctcgtcgctctcCATCTTGCCTGTCGCGC SEQ ID TG NO: 88 oSGI-JU-0346 tgagagtgcaccataGGTGTCCTCACCCT SEQ ID CAAGTAC NO: 89 oSGI-JU-0347 ctcgtcgctctcCATCTCCTCGTCGAAGT SEQ ID CCTG NO: 90 oSGI-JU-0350 tgagagtgcaccataTCAATGTCCATCAT SEQ ID ATTATCATTACGAGTCATG NO: 91 oSGI-JU-0351 ctcgtcgctctcCATGATGCTCTAGATTA SEQ ID CTTGATGAATCTACTTAC NO: 92 oSGI-JU-0352 tgagagtgcaccataACGAGGAGCGAAGG SEQ ID TAGGTG NO: 93 oSGI-JU-0353 ctcgtcgctctcCATGGTGGTCTTGTCGT SEQ ID CCATC NO: 94 oSGI-JU-0356 tgagagtgcaccataAGCAGCTTCAAGCC SEQ ID ATCATCAC NO: 95 oSGI-JU-0357 ctcgtcgctctcCATCGTGCGCGGGAGCT SEQ ID TG NO: 96 oSGI-JU-0358 tgagagtgcaccataGGAGGGAGGCATGA SEQ ID AAACAAAG NO: 97 oSGI-JU-0359 ctcgtcgctctcCATTTTGCTTGAGGTTG SEQ ID GAGTTTCG NO: 98 oSGI-JU-0392 tgagagtgcaccataAAGGATGAGGCTGG SEQ ID TTTCAGAAAAC NO: 99 oSGI-JU-0394 tgagagtgcaccataGCAGGGGTGCTAGT SEQ ID ATTTTATACTATCTG NO: 100 oSGI-JU-0399 tgagagtgcaccataAGAAGTATTAAAAA SEQ ID AAGGACCGGATGAAAG NO: 101 oSGI-JU-0401 tgagagtgcaccataACTTTTCAACTTGA SEQ ID GATGCACCAC NO: 102 oSGI-JU-0403 tgagagtgcaccataGATGAATGAAAGAA SEQ ID TGAAAGAATGAAAGAATCG NO: 103 oSGI-JU-0407 tgagagtgcaccataCTCAAACTCGGCAA SEQ ID ACTTGGTAAATG NO: 104 oSGI-JU-0409 tgagagtgcaccataAGAAGCCAAGGTAT SEQ ID CTACCAGC NO: 105 oSGI-JU-0411 tgagagtgcaccataTCGAGGACACAACC SEQ ID AACTCAAG NO: 106 oSGI-JU-0413 tgagagtgcaccataCTTCGAAGTACTAC SEQ ID TTTGTAGATCCTAG NO: 107 oSGI-JU-0415 tgagagtgcaccataCGAATGTTGGGAAC SEQ ID TACAGAATCATTG NO: 108 oSGI-JU-0417 tgagagtgcaccataACCGGAAGCCTGGA SEQ ID TATGTATC NO: 109 oSGI-JU-0419 tgagagtgcaccataACCAACAACTGCAC SEQ ID TAACCAAG NO: 110 oSGI-JU-0434 tctcgtcgctctcCATCTTCTTGAGAGCG SEQ ID GAAAGGG NO: 111 oSGI-JU-0435 tctcgtcgctctcCATTTTGCTTGAGGTT SEQ ID GGAGTTTCG NO: 112 oSGI-JU-0436 tctcgtcgctctcCATTGTGTTCTTAAGT SEQ ID TAAAAACTTGACTTGAAAATC NO: 113 oSGI-JU-0437 tctcgtcgctctcCATCTTGCTAAGTGTC SEQ ID TTACTTCTGC NO: 114 oSGI-JU-0438 tctcgtcgctctcCATTGTGCTAACTACA SEQ ID GGTACGTACG NO: 115 oSGI-JU-0440 tctcgtcgctctcCATCTTGAAACCAAGG SEQ ID TGAGGTTC NO: 116 oSGI-JU-0441 tctcgtcgctctcCATGCCGATTTGTCCT SEQ ID GCCCG NO: 117 oSGI-JU-0442 tctcgtcgctctcCATCTTGCCTGTCGCG SEQ ID CTGCAC NO: 118 oSGI-JU-0443 tctcgtcgctctcCATGGTTGCCTACTTC SEQ ID GCGCAAG NO: 119 oSGI-JU-0444 tctcgtcgctctcCATCTTTTATTAGTAT SEQ ID CGCGAAGCTAGAAG NO: 120 oSGI-JU-0445 tctcgtcgctctcCATGATGCTTGCTTGA SEQ ID AGACTTGG NO: 121 oSGI-JU-0446 tctcgtcgctctcCATCTTGCCAGGCTTG SEQ ID CAGG NO: 122 oSGI-JU-0800 actgagagtgcaccatatgcTCGCGACTT SEQ ID TACGTGTTCTATG NO: 123 oSGI-JU-0801 ccgctctcgtcgctctcCATTTTGCTAGT SEQ ID TGGGTGCTTG NO: 124 oSGI-JU-0808 actgagagtgcaccatatgcGTCCAACAA SEQ ID CAGAGCGCATAG NO: 125 oSGI-JU-0809 ccgctctcgtcgctctcCATTTTGTTTGG SEQ ID TGCTAGTAGCTTC NO: 126 oSGI-JU-0812 actgagagtgcaccatatgcCATTACTCC SEQ ID AATCCCTGAACACG NO: 127 oSGI-JU-0813 ccgctctcgtcgctctcCATCTTGCCTGT SEQ ID CGCGCTGCAC NO: 128 oSGI-JU-0837 actgagagtgcaccatatgcTGTGATAGC SEQ ID GAGTTGTGCGAG NO: 129 oSGI-JU-0838 ccgctctcgtcgctctccatGGTGTCAAG SEQ ID ATAGAAGTGGTGTC NO: 130 oSGI-JU-0841 actgagagtgcaccatatgcCGCCGCTCA SEQ ID TAGTGTAAACTC NO: 131 oSGI-JU-0842 ccgctctcgtcgctctccatCTTGTCTGT SEQ ID GTCTTCGCTAAAC NO: 132 oSGI-JU-0845 actgagagtgcaccatatgcTGGGAGCTA SEQ ID TGGAGTCTTGGA NO: 133 oSGI-JU-0846 ccgctctcgtcgctctccatCTTGACTAC SEQ ID TTTGTAGAGACTTGGAC NO: 134 oSGI-JU-0849 actgagagtgcaccatatgcAGAATGGTT SEQ ID TTCGAAGAGGCAG NO: 135 oSGI-JU-0850 ccgctctcgtcgctctccatAACGAGTTA SEQ ID GGCGCTTGGC NO: 136 oSGI-JU-0853 actgagagtgcaccatatgcTCTCCAGAA SEQ ID ATGACACACCGC NO: 137 oSGI-JU-0854 ccgctctcgtcgctctccatTTTGCTTGG SEQ ID CAAAGTTTAACTTG NO: 138 oSGI-JU-0858 actgagagtgcaccatatgcAGCGCAACA SEQ ID GCCAAATCTAC NO: 139 oSGI-JU-0859 ccgctctcgtcgctctccatCTTGCCCAA SEQ ID AATCTATCTGTGTG NO: 140 oSGI-JU-0862 actgagagtgcaccatatgcCTTGCTGAC SEQ ID CTTGCGATTG NO: 141 oSGI-JU-0863 ccgctctcgtcgctctccatGGTATTTTC SEQ ID TACGTTATGCATCG NO: 142 oSGI-JU-0866 actgagagtgcaccatatgcAGCGACCAT SEQ ID GAACTACACATC NO: 143 oSGI-JU-0867 ccgctctcgtcgctctccatTTTTATTTG SEQ ID TGTTTTGTTTTGTCGCC NO: 144 oSGI-JU-0870 actgagagtgcaccatatgcCCCTTCAAC SEQ ID ACGAACTCCAAG NO: 145 oSGI-JU-0871 ccgctctcgtcgctctccatCGTGCCCCG SEQ ID AAGATAGC NO: 146 oSGI-JU-0874 actgagagtgcaccatatgcGAAGCGTTT SEQ ID GGTTGTAGCGAC NO: 147 oSGI-JU-0875 ccgctctcgtcgctctccatGGTGCCTAA SEQ ID GAAAGAAAGCAAC NO: 148 oSGI-JU-0878 actgagagtgcaccatatgcGTCTTCTGT SEQ ID GCCTGCATCTG NO: 149 oSGI-JU-0879 ccgctctcgtcgctctccatGGTGGAGGC SEQ ID GGCGGCGTC NO: 150 oSGI-JU-0880 actgagagtgcaccatatgcTTATTCATC SEQ ID GACTGACTGGCCT NO: 151 oSGI-JU-0881 ccgctctcgtcgctctccatCTTCTGGAG SEQ ID AGCGGAAAGG NO: 152 oSGI-JU-0884 actgagagtgcaccatatgcAGAACGGCG SEQ ID TGGAAAAGTTG NO: 153 oSGI-JU-0885 ccgctctcgtcgctctccatCTTGCTGCT SEQ ID TTGGATTTATTCAC NO: 154 oSGI-JU-0888 actgagagtgcaccatatgcTCAGTCACT SEQ ID CACGCATTCAG NO: 155 oSGI-JU-0889 actgagagtgcaccatatgcATTCCTGTT SEQ ID CCCCTCCCATC NO: 156 oSGI-JU-0890 actgagagtgcaccatatgcACAGACAAA SEQ ID CAAGGGAGCAAG NO: 157 oSGI-JU-0891 actgagagtgcaccatatgcAATGAACGC SEQ ID CAACGAGAGAC NO: 158 oSGI-JU-0892 actgagagtgcaccatatgcAGAAAACAG SEQ ID AAGAGTAGGTAGCG NO: 159 PF266 ggcgcacgtgattgcgaataccgcttcca SEQ ID cGTTTAAACaaactcgttcgtggctgttg NO: 160 c PF267 ggcgcacgtgattgcgaataccgcttcca SEQ ID cGTTTAAACaatatgttgcgatagaaagt NO: 161 gtgc PF268 ggcgcacgtgattgcgaataccgcttcca SEQ ID cGTTTAAACacgttcttcgcgaagtcaat NO: 162 cc PF269 ggcgcacgtgattgcgaataccgcttcca SEQ ID cGTTTAAACtcctatcactctatctttca NO: 163 tcagg PF270 ggcgcacgtgattgcgaataccgcttcca SEQ ID cGTTTAAACagagttcctcctcctttcga NO: 164 cc PF271 CGTATGTTGTGTGGAATTGTGAGCG SEQ ID NO: 165 PF274 ggcgcacgtgattgcgaataccgcttcca SEQ ID cGTTTAAACgtccttctttccaccaatct NO: 166 cgg oSGI-JU-0334 atgccccgggtaccgACGCCTTAAGATAC SEQ ID ATTGATGAG NO: 167 oSGI-JU-0364 tgagagtgcaccatatgcATGgagagcga SEQ ID cgagagcg NO: 168 Construction of Expression Vectors pSGI-JU-80-pSGI-JU-89 Containing Promoter Sequences Derived from Aurantiochytrium sp. Strain SGI-i886.

Promoter sequences from labyrinthulomycetes strain SGI-i886 that were associated with the genes whose transcript abundance was evaluated in Example 2 (TABLE 1) were cloned upstream of the reporter gene TurboGFP to generate expression vectors pSGI-JU-80-pSGI-JU-89 (TABLE 5). Each of the resulting expression vectors also carried the nptII marker gene for selection of transformants on paromomycin-containing agar media. These constructs were generated by assembling two PCR products: (1) a PCR product carrying the promoter sequence amplified from SGI-i886 genomic DNA using PCR primers indicated in TABLE 5 (primer sequences provided in TABLE 4), and (2) a PCR product carrying the TurboGFP and SV40 terminator amplified using pTurboGFP plasmid DNA (Evrogen) as template and PCR primers oSGI-JU-101 and oSGI-JU-334 (TABLE 4). The two PCR products were cloned into pSGI-JU-74 (FIG. 1), a pUC19 based cloning vector that carried a neomycin phosphotransferase marker gene (nptII) gene (SEQ ID NO:170) for selection of labyrinthulomycetes transformants on paromomycin-containing media. The PCR-derived insert sequences were confirmed by Sanger sequencing.

TABLE 5 Aurantiochytrium sp. strain SGI-i886 promoter regions identified by gene, expression constructs for promoter evaluation, and cloning primers. Expression Cloning Promoter Construct Primers Used Neighbor of BRCA1 gene 1 (NBR1), pSGI-JU-80-1 oSGI-JU-0336 transcript variant 1; allele 1 oSGI-JU-0337 (SEQ ID NO: 1) Neighbor of BRCA1 gene 1 (NBR1), pSGI-JU-80-6 transcript variant 1; allele 6 (SEQ ID NO: 2) Eft2p GTPasel translation elongation factor pSGI-JU-81-3 oSGI-JU-0338 2 (EF-2); allele 3 (SEQ ID NO: 3) oSGI-JU-0339 Eft2p GTPasel translation elongation factor pSGI-JU-81-8 2 (EF-2); allele 8 (SEQ ID NO: 4) 40S ribosomal protein S3a (S3-a); allele 2 pSGI-JU-82-2 oSGI-JU-0340 (SEQ ID NO: 5) oSGI-JU-0341 40S ribosomal protein S3a (S3-a); allele 5 pSGI-JU-82-5 (SEQ ID NO: 6) Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A pSGI-JU-83-1 oSGI-JU-0342 isoform IV (IF-5a); allele 1 oSGI-JU-0343 (SEQ ID NO: 7) Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A pSGI-JU-83-2 isoform IV (IF-5a); allele 2 (SEQ ID NO: 8) 60S ribosomal protein L9; Conserved pSGI-JU-84-1 oSGI-JU-0344 predicted protein (RPL9); allele 1 (SEQ ID oSGI-JU-0345 NO: 9) 60S ribosomal protein L9; Conserved pSGI-JU-84-6 predicted protein (RPL9); allele 6 (SEQ ID NO: 10) Actin A complement of Actin-1/3 (ActA); pSGI-JU-85-3 oSGI-JU-0346 allele 3 (SEQ ID NO: 11) oSGI-JU-0347 Actin A complement of Actin-1/3 (ActA); pSGI-JU-85-6 allele 6 (SEQ ID NO: 12) Actin A complement of Actin-1/3 (ActA); pSGI-JU-85-8 allele 8 (SEQ ID NO: 13) Heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) pSGI-JU-86 oSGI-JU-0350 (SEQ ID NO: 14) oSGI-JU-0351 Translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF- pSGI-JU-87-4 oSGI-JU-0352 1a); allele 4 (SEQ ID NO: 15) oSGI-JU-0353 Translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF- pSGI-JU-87-7 1a); allele 7 (SEQ ID NO: 16) 60S ribosomal protein L26 (RPL26); allele pSGI-JU-88-5 oSGI-JU-0356 5 (SEQ ID NO: 17) oSGI-JU-0357 60S ribosomal protein L26 (RPL26); allele pSGI-JU-88-7 7 (SEQ ID NO: 18) Tubulin alpha (Tubα); allele 1 (SEQ ID pSGI-JU-89-1 oSGI-JU-0358 NO: 19) oSGI-JU-0359 Tubulin alpha (Tubα); allele 6 (SEQ ID pSGI-JU-89-6 NO: 20) Construction of the Vector Backbone pSGI-JU-79

A promoter-less reporter gene TurboGFP (SEQ ID NO:169; Evrogen, Moscow; Shagin et al., Mol. Biol. Evol., 21 (5):841-50, 2004) and a SV40 terminator (SEQ ID NO:78) from simian virus was cloned into pSGI-JU-74 (FIG. 1), a pUC19 based cloning vector that carried a neomycin phosphotransferase marker gene (nptII) gene (SEQ ID NO:170), to provide an expression construct for evaluating function of promoters inserted upstream of the TurboGFP gene. An NsiI site was engineered at the 5′ end of the TurboGFP gene to facilitate cloning of promoter sequences upstream of the reporter gene. A PCR product carrying the TurboGFP reporter gene and a SV40 terminator was generated using pTurboGFP plasmid DNA (Evrogen, Moscow, Russia) as a template and PCR primers oSGI-JU-364 and oSGI-JU-334 containing the restriction digestion sites NdeI and SacI (TABLE 4). PCR primer oSGI-JU-364 introduced the NsiI site at the 5′ end of the TurboGFP gene. The amplified PCR product was cloned into the pSGI-JU-74 vector to generate vector pSGI-JU-79 (FIG. 2), which was pre-digested with restriction enzymes NdeI and SacI using GeneArt® Seamless Cloning and Assembly procedure (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, Calif.). The PCR-derived insert sequences were confirmed by Sanger sequencing.

Construction of Expression Vectors pSGI-JU-98-pSGI-JU-111 Containing Promoter Sequences Derived from Schizochytrium sp. Strain SGI-i94.

A number of promoter sequences from labyrinthulomycetes strain SGI-i94 (Table 3) were cloned upstream of the reporter gene TurboGFP to generate expression vectors pSGI-JU-98-pSGI-JU-111 (TABLE 6). It was observed that the nucleotide sequence of the SGI-i94 tubulin alpha chain promoter (SEQ ID NO:23) exhibited >96% sequence identity to the SGI-i886 tubulin alpha chain promoter (pSGI-JU-89; SEQ ID NOs:19 and 20). Each of the resulting expression vectors also carried the nptII marker gene for selection of transformants on paromomycin-containing agar media. These constructs were generated by cloning a PCR product carrying the promoter sequence, amplified from SGI-i94 genomic DNA using the PCR primers indicated in TABLE 6, below (primer sequences provided in TABLE 4), into an NsiI-digested plasmid pSGI-JU-79 using GeneArt® Seamless Cloning and Assembly procedure (Life Technologies). The PCR-derived insert sequences were confirmed by Sanger sequencing.

TABLE 6 Schizochytrium sp. strain SGI-i94 promoter regions identified by gene, expression constructs for promoter evaluation, and cloning primers. Expression Cloning Promoter Construct Primers Used Transcriptionally-controlled tumor protein pSGI-JU-98 oSGI-JU-0392 homolog (TCTP) (SEQ ID NO: 21) oSGI-JU-0434 Acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase 2 (ACS2) pSGI-JU-99 oSGI-JU-0399 (SEQ ID NO: 22) oSGI-JU-0436 Tubulin alpha (Tubα) (SEQ ID NO: 23) pSGI-JU-101 oSGI-JU-0394 oSGI-JU-0435 Heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) (SEQ ID pSGI-JU-102 oSGI-JU-0401 NO: 24) oSGI-JU-0437 Transcription elongation factor 3 (EF-3) pSGI-JU-103 oSGI-JU-0403 (SEQ ID NO: 25) oSGI-JU-0438 Hexose transporter 1 (HXT1) (SEQ ID pSGI-JU-105 oSGI-JU-0407 NO: 26) oSGI-JU-0440 Catalase (cat) (SEQ ID NO: 27) pSGI-JU-106 oSGI-JU-0409 oSGI-JU-0441 60S ribosomal protein L9 (RPL9) (SEQ pSGI-JU-107 oSGI-JU-0411 ID NO: 28) oSGI-JU-0442 40s ribosomal protein S3a (RPS3a) (SEQ pSGI-JU-108 oSGI-JU-0413 ID NO: 29) oSGI-JU-0443 Tubulin beta chain (Tubβ) (SEQ ID NO: pSGI-JU-109 oSGI-JU-0415 30) oSGI-JU-0444 Superoxide dismutase (SOD) (SEQ ID pSGI-JU-110 oSGI-JU-0417 NO: 31) oSGI-JU-0445 Phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) (SEQ ID pSGI-JU-111 oSGI-JU-0419 NO: 32) oSGI-JU-0446 Construction of Expression Vectors pSGI-JU-180-pSGI-JU-195.

pSGI-JU-180-pSGI-JU-195 were expression vectors in which various promoter sequences (approximately 1.5-2 kb in length) from the Aurantiochytrium sp. strain SGI-i886 (TABLE 2) were operably cloned upstream of the TurboGFP (SEQ ID NO:169) in pSGI-JU-79 (FIG. 2). Each of these expression vectors also carried the nptII marker gene (SEQ ID NO:170) for selection of transformants on paromomycin-containing agar media. These constructs were generated by cloning a PCR product carrying the promoter sequence, amplified from SGI-i886 genomic DNA using the PCR primers indicated in TABLE 7 (primer sequences provided in TABLE 4), into an NsiI-digested plasmid pSGI-JU-79 using Gibson Assembly® cloning procedure (SGI-DNA, La Jolla, Calif.). The PCR-derived insert sequences were confirmed by Sanger sequencing.

TABLE 7 Aurantiochytrium sp. strain SGI-i886 promoter regions identified by gene, expression constructs for promoter evaluation, and cloning primers. Expression Cloning Promoter Construct Primers Used Actin (Act); allele 4 (SEQ ID NO: 33) pSGI-JU-180-4 oSGI-JU-0800 oSGI-JU-0801 Actin (Act); allele 5 (SEQ ID NO: 34) pSGI-JU-180-5 oSGI-JU-0800 oSGI-JU-0801 Actin (Act); allele 6 (SEQ ID NO: 35) pSGI-JU-180-6 oSGI-JU-0800 oSGI-JU-0801 Elongation factor 1-alpha 1 (EF1alpha) pSGI-JU-181 oSGI-JU-0808 (SEQ ID NO: 36) oSGI-JU-0809 60S ribosomal protein L6 (RPL6) (SEQ pSGI-JU-182 oSGI-JU-0812 ID NO: 37) oSGI-JU-0813 Actin depolymerase (Adp); allele A (SEQ pSGI-JU-183A oSGI-JU-0837 ID NO: 38) oSGI-JU-0838 Actin depolymerase (Adp); allele B (SEQ pSGI-JU-183B oSGI-JU-0837 ID NO: 39) oSGI-JU-0838 Adenosylhomocysteinase (AHC) (SEQ ID pSGI-JU-184 oSGI-JU-0841 NO: 40) oSGI-JU-0842 Alternative oxidase (AOX); allele B (SEQ pSGI-JU-185B oSGI-JU-0845 ID NO: 41) oSGI-JU-0846 Alternative oxidase (AOX); allele C (SEQ pSGI-JU-185C oSGI-JU-0845 ID NO: 42) oSGI-JU-0846 Cytochrome C oxidase (cox); allele A pSGI-JU-186A oSGI-JU-0849 (SEQ ID NO: 43) oSGI-JU-0850 Cytochrome C oxidase (cox); allele C pSGI-JU-186C oSGI-JU-0849 (SEQ ID NO: 44) oSGI-JU-0850 Elongation factor 1-beta (EF1beta) (SEQ pSGI-JU-187 oSGI-JU-0853 ID NO: 45) oSGI-JU-0854 Fa ATP synthase (faas) (SEQ ID NO: 46) pSGI-JU-188 oSGI-JU-0858 oSGI-JU-0859 Heavy metal associated domain (HMA); pSGI-JU-189A oSGI-JU-0862 allele A (SEQ ID NO: 47) oSGI-JU-0863 Heavy metal associated domain (HMA); pSGI-JU-189B oSGI-JU-0862 allele B (SEQ ID NO: 48) oSGI-JU-0863 Mitochondrial chaperonin 60 (hsp60); pSGI-JU-190A oSGI-JU-0866 allele A (SEQ ID NO: 49) oSGI-JU-0867 Mitochondrial chaperonin 60 (hsp60); pSGI-JU-190B oSGI-JU-0866 allele B (SEQ ID NO: 50) oSGI-JU-0867 Phosphotidylinsositol 3-kinase (PI3K); pSGI-JU-191A oSGI-JU-0870 allele A (SEQ ID NO: 51) oSGI-JU-0871 Phosphotidylinsositol 3-kinase (PI3K); pSGI-JU-191C oSGI-JU-0870 allele C (SEQ ID NO: 52) oSGI-JU-0871 60s ribososomal protein 11 (RPL11); pSGI-JU-192B oSGI-JU-0874 allele B (SEQ ID NO: 53) oSGI-JU-0875 60s ribososomal protein 11 (RPL11); pSGI-JU-192C oSGI-JU-0874 allele C (SEQ ID NO: 54) oSGI-JU-0875 Small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) pSGI-JU-193 oSGI-JU-0878 (SEQ ID NO: 55) oSGI-JU-0879 Transcriptionally-controlled tumor protein pSGI-JU-194 oSGI-JU-0880 homolog (TCTP) (SEQ ID NO: 56) oSGI-JU-0881 Tetraspanin (Tsp); allele A (SEQ ID NO: pSGI-JU-195A oSGI-JU-0884 57) oSGI-JU-0885 Tetraspanin (Tsp); allele B (SEQ ID NO: pSGI-JU-195B oSGI-JU-0884 58) oSGI-JU-0885 Construction of Expression Vectors Carrying Shortened Variants of Promoter from Aurantiochytrium sp. Strain SGI-i886.

pSGI-JU-196 and pSGI-JU-197 (TABLE 2) were expression vectors in which a full-length tubulin-alpha promoter from labyrinthulomycetes strain SGI-i886 (SEQ ID NO:20) was shortened from its 5′ end to a length of 738 bp (SEQ ID NO:59) and 522 bp (SEQ ID NO:60), respectively. The promoters were shortened from the 5′ end of the full-length promoter. Each of these expression vectors also carried the nptII marker gene (SEQ ID NO:170) for selection of transformants on paromomycin-containing agar media. These constructs were generated by cloning PCR products carrying the promoter shortened promoter sequences (SEQ ID NO:196 and SEQ ID NO:197), which were individually amplified from the pSGI-JU-89-6 plasmid DNA template using the PCR primers indicated in TABLE 8 (primer sequences provided in TABLE 4), into an NsiI-digested pSGI-JU-79 vector using the Gibson Assembly® cloning procedure (Gibson et al. (2009) Nature Methods 6: 343-345; Gibson (2011) Methods in Enzymology 498: 349-361; SGI-DNA, La Jolla, Calif.). The PCR-derived insert sequences were confirmed by Sanger sequencing.

pSGI-JU-198, pSGI-JU-199, and pSGI-JU-200 (TABLE 2) were expression vectors in which a full-length actin promoter from Aurantiochytrium sp. strain SGI-i886 (SEQ ID NO:34) was shortened from its 5′ end to a length of 1176 bp (SEQ ID NO:61), 776 bp (SEQ ID NO:62), and 557 bp (SEQ ID NO:63), respectively. Each of these expression vectors also carried the nptII marker gene (SEQ ID NO:170) for selection of labyrinthulomycetes transformants on paromomycin-containing agar media. These constructs were generated by cloning a PCR product carrying the shortened promoter sequence, which was amplified from pSGI-JU-180-5 plasmid DNA template using the PCR primers indicated in TABLE 8 (primer sequences provided in TABLE 4), into an NsiI-digested pSGI-JU-79 vector using the Gibson Assembly® cloning procedure. The PCR-derived insert sequences were confirmed by Sanger sequencing.

TABLE 8 Shortened promoters derived from Aurantiochytrium sp. strain SGI-i886 promoter regions identified by gene, expression constructs for promoter evaluation, and cloning primers. Promoter Construct Primers Used Tubulin alpha (Tubα-738) pSGI-JU-196 oSGI-JU-0888 (SEQ ID NO: 59) oSGI-JU-0359 Tubulin alpha (Tubα-522) pSGI-JU-197 oSGI-JU-0889 (SEQ ID NO: 60) oSGI-JU-0359 Actin (act-1176) (SEQ ID NO: 61) pSGI-JU-198 oSGI-JU-0890 oSGI-JU-0801 Actin (act-776) (SEQ ID NO: 62) pSGI-JU-199 oSGI-JU-0891 oSGI-JU-0801 Actin (act-557) (SEQ ID NO: 63) pSGI-JU-200 oSGI-JU-0892 oSGI-JU-0801

Example 4 Genetic Transformation of Labyrinthulomycetes Cells

In a typical transformation experiment, labyrinthulomycetes cells were transformed as follows.

Day 1: Labyrinthulomycetes cells were grown in 50 mL of FM002 medium in a baffled 250 mL flask overnight at 30° C. under agitation at 150 rpm.

Day 2: Cultured cells from 0.5 mL of the culture were pelleted and suspended in a volume of FM002 that was 50 times the pellet volume. Fifty microliters of cell suspension was used to inoculate 50 mL of FM002 in a baffled 250 mL flask, and grown overnight at 30° C. and 150 rpm.

Day 3: Cells of 50 mL of the overnight culture were pelleted by centrifugation at 2,000×g for 5 minutes, suspended in 20 mL of 1 M mannitol, and transferred to a 125 mL flask. In a next step, 200 μL of 1 M CaCl2 and 500 μL of Protease XIV (10 mg/mL, Sigma, P6911) were added, followed by incubation at 30° C. under agitation at 100 rpm for 4 hours. From this point forward, wide-bore tips were used and cell cultures are kept on ice. The cultured cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 2,000×g for 5 minutes. The volume of cell pellet was noted before the cells were suspended in 10 mL cold 10% glycerol. Cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 2,000×g for 5 minutes one more time, and suspended in a volume of electroporation medium (Mirus Ingenio Buffer) that was 4 times the pellet volume. 100 μL of suspended cells was added to a pre-chilled cuvette containing DNA (5-10 μg) and gently mixed. Electroporation of cells was carried out using 500 V, 200Ω, and 25 μF, followed by addition of 1 mL of GY (17 g/L Instant Ocean, 30 g/L glucose, and 10 g/L yeast extract) to the cuvette and transfer of contents to a 15 ml culture tube. Electroporated cells were allowed to recover overnight at 30° C. with continuous agitation at 150 rpm. Recovered cells were subsequently plated on selection media (200-250 μL/plate) and further incubated at 30° C.

Example 5 Evaluation of Promoters Derived Introduced into Aurantiochytrium sp. SGI-i886

Each of the candidate promoters described above was cloned upstream of the reporter gene TurboGFP in an expression vector that also carried an nptII gene for resistance to the antibiotic paromomycin. The expression vectors were constructed as described in Example 3 above. These resulting expression vectors were then linearized using a restriction site located in the vector sequence, and subsequently transformed into labyrinthulomycetes cells according to the general procedure described in Example 4.

The relative strength of each promoter was evaluated based on the expression of the TurboGFP reporter using fluorescence microscopy. Fluorescence signals of the transformed colonies were examined using the Typhoon™ FLA9000 system (GE Healthcare Life Sciences) with 473 nm laser and LPB filter with EMT set to 550V. As can be seen in FIG. 3 and TABLE 9, the promoters were observed exhibiting various levels of activity.

TABLE 9 Relative strength of promoters from Aurantiochytrium sp. strain SGI-i886 as determined by fluorescent microscopy No. of allele Relative Construct analyzed Corresponding gene, Promoter Sequence ID strength pSGI-JU-79 N/A Control construct (no promoter sequence insert) N/A pSGI-JU-80-1, -6 2 Neighbor of BRCA1 gene 1 (NBR1), transcript variant 1 + (SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 2) pSGI-JU-81-3, -8 2 Eft2p GTPasel translation elongation factor 2 (EF-2) + (SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 4) pSGI-JU-82-2, -5 2 40S ribosomal protein S3a (S3-a) ++ (SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 6) pSGI-JU-83-1, -2 2 Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A isoform IV (IF- + 5a) (SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 8) pSGI-JU-84-1, -6 2 60S ribosomal protein L9 (RPL9) ++ (SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 10) pSGI-JU-85-3, -6, -8 3 Actin A complement of Actin-1/3 (Act A) + (SEQ ID NO: 11, SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 13) pSGI-JU-86 1 Heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) + (SEQ ID NO: 14) pSGI-JU-87-4, -7 2 Translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1a) + (SEQ ID NO: 15, SEQ ID NO: 16) pSGI-JU-88-5, -7 2 60S ribosomal protein L26 (RPL26) ++ (SEQ ID NO: 17, SEQ ID NO: 18) pSGI-JU-89-1, -6 2 Tubulin alpha (Tub-α) ++++ (SEQ ID NO: 19, SEQ ID NO: 20) pSGI-JU-189A, B 2 Heavy metal associated domain (HMA) ++/++ (SEQ ID NO: 47, SEQ ID NO: 48) pSGI-JU-190A, B 2 Mitochondrial chaperonin 60 (hsp60) ++++/++++ (SEQ ID NO: 49, SEQ ID NO: 50) pSGI-JU-191A, C 2 Phosphotidylinsositol 3-kinase (PI3K)  ++/+++ (SEQ ID NO: 51, SEQ ID NO: 52) pSGI-JU-192B, C 2 60s ribososomal protein 11 (RPL11) +++/+++ (SEQ ID NO: 53, SEQ ID NO: 54) pSGI-JU-193 1 Small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) − (SEQ ID NO: 55) pSGI-JU-194 1 Transcriptionally-controlled tumor protein homolog + (TCTP) (SEQ ID NO: 56) pSGI-JU-195A, B 2 Tetraspanin (Tsp) (SEQ ID NO: 57, SEQ ID NO: 58) +++/+++

The strongest promoters observed in this assay were the promoters from the tubulin alpha gene (SEQ ID NO:19 and SEQ ID NO:20, in expression constructs pSGI-JU-89-1 and pSGI-JU-89-6, respectively) and the mitochondrial chaperonin 60 (hsp60) gene promoters (SEQ ID NO:49 and SEQ ID NO:50, in expression constructs pSGI-JU-190A and pSGI-JU-190B, respectively). Expression levels using the 60s ribososomal protein 11 (RPL11) promoters (SEQ ID NO:53 and SEQ ID NO:54, in expression constructs pSGI-JU-192B and pSGI-JU-192C, respectively), Tetraspanin (Tsp) promoters (SEQ ID NO:57 and SEQ ID NO:58, in expression constructs pSGI-JU-195A and pSGI-JU-195B, respectively) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) promoters (SEQ ID NO:53 and SEQ ID NO:54, in expression constructs pSGI-JU-191A and pSGI-JU-191C, respectively) also demonstrated moderately high expression of GFP as evaluated by fluorescence, while the ribosomal RPS3a promoter (SEQ ID NO:5 and SEQ ID NO:6, in expression constructs pSGI-JU-82-2 and pSGI-JU-82-6, respectively), RPL9 promoters (SEQ ID NO:9 and SEQ ID NO:10, in expression constructs pSGI-JU-84-1 and pSGI-JU-84-6, respectively), and RPL26 promoters (SEQ ID NO:17 and SEQ ID NO:18, in expression constructs pSGI-JU-88-5 and pSGI-JU-88-7, respectively) were observed exhibiting medium level expression. Expression levels of the “neighbor of BRCA1 gene 1” (NBR1), transcript variant 1 gene promoters (SEQ ID NO:1 and SEQ ID NO:2, in expression constructs pSGI-JU-80-1 and pSGI-JU-80-6, respectively), the eft2p GTPase translation elongation factor 2 (EF-2) gene promoters (SEQ ID NO:3 and SEQ ID NO:4, in expression vectors pSGI-JU-81-3 and pSGI-JU-81-8, respectively), eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A isoform IV (IF-5a) promoters (SEQ ID NO:7 and SEQ ID NO:8, in expression constructs pSGI-JU-83-1 and pSGI-JU-83-2, respectively), actin A complement of Actin-1/3 (ActA) promoters (SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:12, and SEQ ID NO:13, in expression vectors pSGI-JU-85-3, pSGI-JU-85-6 and pSGI-JU-85-8, respectively), the heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) promoter (SEQ ID NO:14, in expression vector pSGI-JU-86) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1a) promoters (SEQ ID NO:15 and SEQ ID NO:16, in expression vectors pSGI-JU-87-4 and pSGI-JU-87-7, respectively) were relatively low in this GFP expression assay.

Example 6 Evaluation of Promoters Derived from Schizochytrium sp. SGI-i94 in Aurantiochytrium sp. SGI-i886

This Example describes the experimental characterization and evaluation of several promoter sequences initially derived from Schizochytrium sp. strain SGI-i94 and subsequently introduced into Aurantiochytrium sp. strain SGI-i886, using fluorescent microscopy techniques. The Example also describes experimental evaluation of several terminators from S. cerevisiae in combination with various promoters from strain SGI-i94.

As described in Example 5 above and provided in TABLE 9, the reporter gene TurboGFP when under control of a tubulin alpha promoter, as well as for example, the mitochondrial hsp60 promoters (SEQ ID NO:49 and SEQ ID NO:50), and an SV40 terminator (in pSGI-JU-89-6) could produce high levels of expression in recombinant SGI-i886 cells, indicating that the tubulin alpha promoter from SGI-i886 and SV40 terminator from simian virus could be used as good source of regulatory elements for high expression of heterologous gene sequences in recombinant labyrinthulomycetes cells. To identify additional promoters and terminators having these highly desirable characteristics, as described in Example 3, additional constructs were generated in which various promoter sequences from strain SGI-i94 (TABLE 6) were each cloned upstream of the reporter gene TurboGFP. Similarly, additional constructs were generated in which the SV40 terminator downstream of TurboGFP in pSGI-JU-89-6 was replaced with various terminators from S. cerevisiae (TABLE 10). These expression vectors were then linearized using a restriction site located in the vector sequence, and subsequently transformed into the SGI-886 strain according to the general procedure described in Example 4. The relative strength of each promoter was evaluated based on the expression of the TurboGFP reporter using fluorescence microscopy. Fluorescence signals of the transformed colonies were examined using the Typhoon™ FLA9000 system (GE Healthcare Life Sciences) with 473 nm laser and long pass blue (LPB) filter with the electron multiplier tube (EMT) set to 550V.

TABLE 10 Terminators from Saccharomyces cerevisiae SEQ Construct Corresponding Gene ID NO pSGI-JU-124 Alcohol dehydrogenase 1 (ADH1) SEQ ID NO: 71 pSGI-JU-125 Enolase II (ENO2) SEQ ID NO: 72 pSGI-JU-126 Pyruvate decarboxylase 1 (PDC1) SEQ ID NO: 73 pSGI-JU-127 3-phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK1) SEQ ID NO: 74 pSGI-JU-128 Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate SEQ ID NO: 75 dehydrogenase (TDH3) pSGI-JU-129 Translational elongation factor SEQ ID NO: 76 EF-1 alpha (TEF1) pSGI-JU-89-6 Cytochrome C isoform 1 (CYC1) SEQ ID NO: 77

As reported in TABLE 11 and illustrated in FIG. 4, the promoters isolated from strain SGI-i94 all demonstrated some ability to direct expression of the GFP, and were observed to exhibit various levels of activity in recombinant SGI-i886 cells when compared to the positive control promoter, which was the tubulin alpha chain promoter isolated from SGI-i886 (SEQ ID NO:23). In particular, although there were significant variations in intensity of fluorescent signals among the transformants of the same construct, fluorescent signals with significantly high intensity were observed with the reporter gene TurboGFP being expressed using promoters corresponding to the tubulin alpha chain gene (SEQ ID NO:23) and the hsp70 gene of strain SGI-i94 (SEQ ID NO:24). The hexose transporter 1 protein promoter (SEQ ID NO:26) displayed moderate activity in this assay.

TABLE 11 Relative strength of the promoter sequences derived from Schizochytrium sp. strain SGI-i94 and tested in recombinant Aurantiochytrium sp. strain SGI-i886. Promoter Relative Construct Sequence Corresponding gene strength pSGI-JU-98 SEQ ID NO: 21 Transcriptionally-controlled + tumor protein homolog (TCTP) pSGI-JU-99 SEQ ID NO: 22 Acetyl-coenzyme A + synthetase 2 (ACS2) pSGI-JU-101 SEQ ID NO: 23 Tubulin alpha (Tub-α) ++++ pSGI-JU-102 SEQ ID NO: 24 Heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) +++ pSGI-JU-103 SEQ ID NO: 25 Transcription elongation + factor 3 (EF-3) pSGI-JU-105 SEQ ID NO: 26 Hexose transporter 1 (HXT1) ++ pSGI-JU-106 SEQ ID NO: 27 Catalase (cat) + pSGI-JU-107 SEQ ID NO: 28 60S ribosomal protein + L9 (RPL9) pSGI-JU-108 SEQ ID NO: 29 40s ribosomal protein + S3a (RPS3a) pSGI-JU-109 SEQ ID NO: 30 Tubulin beta chain (Tub-β) + pSGI-JU-110 SEQ ID NO: 31 Superoxide dismutase (SOD) + pSGI-JU-111 SEQ ID NO: 32 Phosphoglycerate + kinase (PGK)

Additionally, an enhancement in fluorescent signal intensities was observed with the PGK1, ENO2 and PDC1 terminators. A similar level of fluorescence was observed with the TDH3 terminator while a decrease in expression was observed with the each of the ADH1 and TEF1 terminators.

Example 7 Evaluation of Promoters Derived from Aurantiochytrium sp. SGI-i886 Using Paromomycin Resistance Gene nptII

This Example describes the experimental evaluation of several promoter sequences derived from strain SGI-i886 for their potential use as selectable marker in the context of genetic transformation. While the use of fluorescent report proteins, such as TurboGFP as described above, is generally considered a reliable way to identify and screen for promoters functional in a particular cell or species, it was also considered important that they be tested in the context of transformation because most of these promoters would be used to drive the expression of a selectable marker or a biochemical pathway gene in genetic transformation procedures. Therefore, the promoters from the actin depolymerase (Adp) gene (alleles A and B, SEQ ID NO:38 and SEQ ID NO:39, of expression constructs pSGI-JU-183A and pSGI-JU-183B, respectively); the promoter from the Fa ATP synthase (faas) gene (SEQ ID NO:46) of expression construct pSGI-JU-188; the promoter from the heavy metal associated domain (HMA) (SEQ ID NO:47) of expression construct pSGI-JU-189A; promoters from the mitochondrial chaperonin 60 (hsp60) gene (SEQ ID NO:49 and SEQ ID NO:50 of expression constructs pSGI-JU-190A and pSGI-JU-190B); the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) promoter (SEQ ID NO:54) of expression construct pSGI-JU-191C, the 60s ribosomal protein 11 (RPL11) promoter (SEQ ID NO:53) of expression construct pSGI-JU-192B, and the Tetraspanin (Tsp) promoter (SEQ ID NO:58) of expression construct pSGI-JU-195B, all of which were initially shown to be produce significant TurboGFP signals as described in Example 4 (TABLE 9), were further tested for their ability to confer paromomycin resistance when used to drive expression of a paromomycin-resistance gene, nptII, and thus support cell growth on selective media. For this purpose, using standard molecular biology techniques a paromomycin-resistance gene, nptII (SEQ ID NO:170), was operably linked at the 3′ end of each of the foregoing promoter sequences in place of the TurboGFP gene. Each of the promoter sequences was directly PCR-amplified from its respective expression vector using appropriate forward and reverse primers shown in TABLE 12. PCR primer W171, which had vector homology and was designed to hybridize just upstream of the promoter, was a common forward primer for all promoter sequences except that oSGI-JU-0858 was used for pSGI-JU-188A. Each of the PCR-amplified products was agarose gel-purified and cloned into pSGI-JU-74 (FIG. 1), which was pre-digested with restriction enzymes NdeI and BstXI, using Gibson® Assembly procedure (SGI-DNA, La Jolla, Calif.). These two restriction sites are located immediately upstream to the nptII gene, and thus cloning each promoter sequence between these two sites allows the promoter to drive the expression of the antibiotic-resistance gene. The PCR-derived insert sequences of the resulting constructs were also confirmed by Sanger sequencing.

TABLE 12 Primers for cloning promoters upstream of the nptII gene SEQ Primer Name Primer Sequence ID NO W171 ATCAGAGCAGATTGTACTGAGAGTGCA SEQ ID C NO: 171 W172 gcgtgcaatccatcttgttcaatcccc SEQ ID atGGTGTCAAGATAGAAGTGGTGTCAA NO: 172 W173 gcgtgcaatccatcttgttcaatcccc SEQ ID atCTTGCCCAAAATCTATCTGTGTGAA NO: 173 ACGC W174 gtgcaatccatcttgttcaatccccat SEQ ID GGTATTTTCTACGTTATGCATCGATTC NO: 174 ATATTT W175 cgtgcaatccatcttgttcaatcccca SEQ ID tTTTTATTTGTGTTTTGTTTTGTCGCC NO: 175 TGTGGA W176 gcgtgcaatccatcttgttcaatcccc SEQ ID atCGTGCCCCGAAGATAGCTCGCTC NO: 176 W177 gcgtgcaatccatcttgttcaatcccc SEQ ID atGGTGCCTAAGAAAGAAAGCAACTAG NO: 177 CTCC W178 gcgtgcaatccatcttgttcaatcccc SEQ ID atCTTGCTGCTTTGGATTTATTCACTT NO: 178 GACGT W179 gcgtgcaatccatcttgttcaatcccc SEQ ID atTTTGCTTGAGGTTGGAGTTTCGAAA NO: 179 ACTAC oSGI-JU-0858 actgagagtgcaccatatgcAGCGCAA SEQ ID CAGCCAAATCTAC NO: 139

Each of the resulting constructs which retained the number designations of the original FP expression constructs of TABLE 2, was linearized, transformed into SGI-i886, and plated onto selection agar plates supplemented with paromomycin at 2 g/L. All of the promoters tested as described above showed an ability to confer paromomycin resistance to transformed cells, but to slightly different extents in terms of the number of colonies resulting from the transformations (the same amount of each linearized constructs was transformed into the target strain of interest, i.e. SGI-i886). Based on the number of obtained transformants, the promoters from the mitochondrial hsp60 gene (SEQ ID NO:49 and SEQ ID NO:50, in constructs “190A” and “190B”); the PI3K gene (SEQ ID NO:52) in construct “191C”, and the 60s RPL11 gene (SEQ ID NO:53) of transformation construct “192B” were determined to be somewhat better than the control promoter, which was a full-length tubulin promoter from SGI-i886 (886Tp), whereas the promoters from the Adp gene (SEQ ID NO:38 and SEQ ID NO:39, in transformation constructs “183A” and “183B”); the faas gene (SEQ ID NO:46) in transformation construct “188”, the HMA gene (SEQ ID NO:47) in construct “189A”; and the (Tsp) gene (SEQ ID NO:58, in construct “195B”) were similar to the control (full-length tubulin promoter from SGI-i886) in yielding transformants.

Example 8 Evaluation of Promoter Activity of Deletion Variants Using Paromomycin Resistance Reporter Gene nptII

The lengths of the promoters enabling paromomycin resistance described in Example 7 above ranged from 1500 bp to 2000 bp. In order to identify shorter variants of the promoters described in Example 7, an allele of each of the promoters was chosen (pSGI-JU-183A, pSGI-JU-188, pSGI-JU-189A, pSGI-JU-190A, pSGI-JU-191C, pSGI-JU-192B, and pSGI-JU-195B) and subjected to a shortening procedure from the 5′ end to lengths ranging from approximately 500 bp to 800 bp. The promoter sequence shortening was achieved by using standard PCR-based methods. The PCR-derived sequences of the resulting shortened promoters were also confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Corresponding expression constructs were built, in which nptII was placed at the 3′ end of each of the shortened promoters, and subsequently tested for their potential to confer resistance and thus cell growth.

TABLE 13 Relative strength of the deletion variants of various promoter sequences derived from Aurantiochytrium sp. strain SGI-i886 Relative Promoter Construct Primers Used strength Tubulin alpha (Tubα-738) (SEQ ID NO: 59) pSGI-JU-196 oSGI-JU-0888 ++++ oSGI-JU-0359 Tubulin alpha (Tubα-522) (SEQ ID NO: 60) pSGI-JU-197 oSGI-JU-0889 − oSGI-JU-0359 Actin (act-1176) (SEQ ID NO: 61) pSGI-JU-198 oSGI-JU-0890 ++++ oSGI-JU-0801 Actin (act-776) (SEQ ID NO: 62) pSGI-JU-199 oSGI-JU-0891 + oSGI-JU-0801 Actin (act-557) (SEQ ID NO: 63) pSGI-JU-200 oSGI-JU-0892 ++++ oSGI-JU-0801 Fa ATP synthase short (faas-776) pSGI-JU-188-short PF271 − (SEQ ID NO: 64) PF266 Heavy metal associated domain short (HMA-796) pSGI-JU-189-short PF271 ++ (SEQ ID NO: 65) PF267 Mitochondrial chaperonin 60 short (hsp60-788) pSGI-JU-190-short PF271 ++++ (SEQ ID NO: 66) PF268 Phosphotidylinsositol 3-kinase short (PI3K-752) pSGI-JU-191-short PF271 +++ (SEQ ID NO: 67) PF269 60s ribososomal protein 11 short (RPL11-699) pSGI-JU-192-short PF271 +++ (SEQ ID NO: 68) PF274 Tetraspanin short (Tsp-749) (SEQ ID NO: 69) pSGI-JU-195-short PF271 +++ PF270 Actin depolymerase-short (Adp-830) 183-short PF271 ++ (SEQ ID NO: 70) PF265

Each of the resulting constructs was linearized, transformed into SGI-i886, and plated onto selection agar plates supplemented with paromomycin at 2 g/L. With the exception for the shortened version of the promoter from pSGI-JU-188 which did not result in colonies, all other shortened promoter sequences resulted in paromomycin resistance but to slightly different extents in terms of the number of colonies resulting from the transformations (TABLE 13). The relative strengths of these shortened promoter sequences also appeared to be similar to those of their longer counterparts, where the result of the full-length promoter in pSGI-JU-183A (“full”) was used as a reference for comparison.

Example 9 Identification of Lipogenic Promoters in Chytrid Strain SGI-i886

This Example describes the experimental characterization and evaluation of several promoter sequences derived from strain SGI-i886 that are active during lipogenesis based on average coverage of the cDNA in next-generation sequencing (NGS) data of the transcriptomes of the strain SGI-i886 during mid- to late-log phase of growth.

Replicate flasks (n=2) of strain SGI-i886 were grown in nitrogen-deplete and control (that is, nitrogen-replete) media, respectively. Each flask was sampled for transcriptomics analysis at 0-hour, 2-hour, and 24-hour time points. A total of 12 polyA-selected mRNA samples were prepared for next-generation RNA sequencing. RNA isolation and preparation of next-generation sequencing were performed by using the procedures described in Example 2 above.

The average sequencing coverage, shown for 13 putative lipogenic promoters in TABLE 14, measured in terms of FPKM according to Mortazavi et al. (Nature Methods 5:621-628, 2008), corresponds to the transcript abundance of each gene in each sample. In these RNA sequencing experiments, the relative expression of a given transcript was predicted to be proportional to the number of cDNA fragments that originated from it.

TABLE 14 Listing of genes whose promoters were assessed for expression strength during lipogenic phase. Control_02 and Control_24 were FPKM values for indicated transcripts at 2- and 24- hour time points, respectively, after being diluted back into fresh growth medium. The 2-hour time point indicates transcript levels at mid- growth stage while the 24-hour time point indicate transcript levels at a stationary phase (nutrient deplete). Promoter FPKM Log2 SEQ ID NO Gene Description Control_02 Control_24 (24 vs 02) 180 Molecular chaperone (Small heat shock protein) 1586.5 7084.8 2.2 — NAD(P)-binding Rossmann-fold domains 500.3 3664.6 2.9 181 Elicitin-like protein 6 (Precursor) 148.4 3527.9 4.6 182 NADH-ubiquinone reductase complex 1 MLRQ subunit 18.0 2523.0 7.1 183 Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, NAD 359.2 1763.1 2.3 binding domain 184 Fructose-bisphosphate aldolase, cytoplasmic isozyme 235.0 1034.8 2.1 190 NAD(P)-binding Rossmann-fold domains 93.7 964.7 3.4 185 Accl acetyl-CoA carboxylase 65.7 945.1 3.8 186 MFS transporter, sugar porter (SP) family (Mfsp) 72.4 603.6 3.1 — Phosphatidylinositol kinase 113.8 578.7 2.3 189 Fatty acid synthase alpha subunit reductase 48.2 565.6 3.6 187 Carnitine O-palmitoyltransferase 2 48.5 538.0 3.5 188 Ferredoxin reductase-like, C-terminal NADP-linked 35.4 519.1 3.9 domain

The ability of these promoters to control expression of the reporter gene TurboGFP during lipogenic phase was assessed. The use of this dataset for lipogenic promoters were further validated by the presence of promoter sequences corresponding to the lipid biosynthesis genes acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase among the putative lipogenic promoters. Both of these genes were expected to be upregulated during the lipogenic phase. In addition, it was observed that the omega-3 PUFA synthase genes were also induced in this dataset (see, TABLE 15).

TABLE 15 Expression levels of omega-3 PUFA synthase genes in transcriptomic dataset FPKM Log2 Gene Description Control_02 Control_24 (24 vs 02) Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty 197.3 1249.0 2.7 acid synthase PfaA Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty 183.2 837.5 2.2 acid synthase PfaD Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty 136.1 677.1 2.3 acid synthase PfaC Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty 79.3 379.5 2.3 acid synthase PfaD Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty 73.2 304.3 2.1 acid synthase PfaD Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty 43.2 560.2 3.7 acid synthase PfaA Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty 23.5 165.6 2.8 acid synthase PfaC Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty 780.2 7104.6 3.2 acid synthase PfaA Construction of Expression Vectors Carrying Lipogenic Promoters.

The ability of these promoters to express heterologous genes during lipogenic phase was assessed as follows. Approximately 3 kb of the sequence extending upstream (5′) of the initiating methionine codon (that is, native start codon) of the corresponding genes were selected as comprising promoters. To evaluate their ability to control expression of an operably linked heterologous gene, these promoter sequences were cloned upstream of the reporter gene TurboGFP to generate expression vectors pSGI-CC-002-6, 8-13, which are listed in Table 16. These constructs were generated by cloning PCR products carrying the corresponding promoter sequences (which were individually amplified from genomic DNA template of the strain SGI-i886 using primers indicated in Table 16) into an NsiI-digested pSGI-CC-001 vector using Gibson Assembly® cloning procedure (SGI-DNA, La Jolla, Calif.). All of the PCR-derived insert sequences were confirmed by Sanger sequencing. The cloning vector pSGI-CC-001 was a plasmid that carried the reporter gene TurboGFP and an SV40 terminator without a promoter sequence. An NsiI site was engineered at the 5′ end of the TurboGFP gene to facilitate cloning of the promoter sequences upstream of the reporter gene. The vector pSGI-CC-001 also carries the hph marker gene for selection of chytrid transformants on hygromycin.

TABLE 16 Expression cassettes and vectors carrying lipogenic promoters SEQ Construct Name Promoter Length (bp) ID NO pSGI-CC-002 3032 180 pSGI-CC-003 3001 181 pSGI-CC-004 3044 182 pSGI-CC-005 3000 183 pSGI-CC-006 3001 184 pSGI-CC-008 2971 185 pSGI-CC-009 2971 186 pSGI-CC-010 3044 187 pSGI-CC-011 3017 188 pSGI-CC-012 3054 189 pSGI-CC-013 2966 190

The resulting constructs were then transformed into a wild type Aurantiochytrium strain (WH-06267). GFP expression in multiple independent transformants was assessed as the cell cultures were transitioned into lipogenic phase in a 24-well microbioreactor (Micro-24; Pall Corporation). The statuses of the various promoters are summarized in TABLE 16. For the Micro-24 experiment, cultures were initially grown to mid-growth in FM005 (which is a defined media with low C:N ratio), then shifted to lipogenic media FM006 (which is a defined media with high C:N ratio) at an OD740=1.4. Once in FM006, the cultures were placed in a Micro-24 (Isett et al. Biotechnol. Bioengineer. 98:1017-1028, 2007) (DO=50%, 650 rpm, 30° C.). Samples were taken at various time points and average fluorescence on the green channel (TurboGFP) in each sample was assessed using the Guava flow cytometer. The results for promoters tested to date are shown in FIGS. 5-7 (also see TABLE 17).

FIG. 5 graphically summarizes the results from experiments evaluating the ability of three candidate lipogenic promoters to direct expression of a heterologous nucleic acid sequence; Elicitin-like protein 6 (Precursor), NADH-ubiquinone reductase complex 1 MLRQ subunit (Nurp), or MFS transporter, sugar porter (SP) family (Mfsp); to control expression of the reporter gene TurboGFP during lipogenic phase. Samples were taken at 0-hr, 2-hr, 24-hr, and 48-hr time points and average fluorescence on the green channel (TurboGFP) in each sample was assessed using the Guava flow cytometer. Control cells were wild type chytrid cells (WH-06267) and transgenic chytrid cells carrying a TurboGFP reporter gene expressed under control of α-tubulin promoter. In this experiment, the cultures were initially grown in FM006 medium instead of FM005.

FIG. 6 graphically summarizes the results from experiments evaluating the ability of three candidate lipogenic promoters to direct expression of a heterologous nucleic acid sequence; Molecular chaperone (Small heat shock protein) (SEQ ID NO:180), Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, NAD binding domain (SEQ ID NO:183), or ACCase (Acc1 acetyl-CoA carboxylase) (SEQ ID NO:185); to control expression of the reporter gene TurboGFP during lipogenic phase. Samples were taken at 0-hr, 2-hr, 24-hr, and 48-hr time points and average fluorescence on the green channel (TurboGFP) in each sample was assessed using the Guava flow cytometer. Control cells were wild type chytrid cells (WH-06267) and transgenic chytrid cells carrying a TurboGFP reporter gene expressed under control of α-tubulin promoter.

FIG. 7 graphically summarizes the results from experiments evaluating the ability of three candidate lipogenic promoters to direct expression of a heterologous nucleic acid sequence; Carnitine O-palmitoyltransferase 2, NAD(P)-binding Rossmann-fold domains (Nrfp), or FAS I (Fatty acid synthase alpha subunit reductase); to control expression of the reporter gene TurboGFP during lipogenic phase. Samples were taken at 0-hr, 2-hr, 24-hr, and 48-hr time points and average fluorescence on the green channel (TurboGFP) in each sample was assessed using the Guava flow cytometer. Control cells were wild type chytrid (Aurantiochytrium) cells (WH-06267) and transgenic chytrid cells carrying a TurboGFP reporter gene expressed under control of α-tubulin promoter.

TABLE 17 Listing of genes whose promoters were assessed for expression during lipogenic phase. When tested in Micro-24 system for GFP expression, a qualitative score of −, +, ++, +++, ++++ are given (also see FIGS. 5-7). GFP SEQ Gene Description expression Construct ID NO Molecular chaperone (Small heat − pSGI-CC-002 180 shock protein) Elicitin-like protein 6 (Precursor) ++* pSGI-CC-003 181 NADH-ubiquinone reductase ++++* pSGI-CC-004 182 complex 1 MLRQ subunit (Nurp) Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate +++  pSGI-CC-005 183 dehydrogenase, NAD binding domain Fructose-bisphosphate aldolase, pSGI-CC-006 184 cytoplasmic isozyme NAD(P)-binding Rossmann-fold ++  pSGI-CC-013 190 domains Acc1 acetyl-CoA carboxylase + pSGI-CC-008 185 MFS transporter, sugar porter (SP) +++* pSGI-CC-009 186 family Fatty acid synthase alpha subunit + pSGI-CC-012 189 reductase Carnitine O-palmitoyltransferase 2 − pSGI-CC-010 187 Ferredoxin reductase-like, pSGI-CC-011 188 C-terminal NADP-linked domain *The Micro-24 analysis for these promoters used the FM006 growth medium for the growth stage prior to the cultures being transitioned into the Micro-24 microbioreactor.

Based on these assays, the Nurp promoter (SEQ ID NO:182), the Gpdp promoter (SEQ ID NO:183), and the Msfp promoter (SEQ ID NO:186) demonstrated strong activity under lipogenic culture conditions.

Example 10 Identification of Constitutive Promoters in Chytrids

This Example describes the experimental characterization and evaluation of several strong promoter sequences derived from chytrids. Transcriptomics study was performed as described in Examples 2 and 9 on three independent genetically engineered strains: GH-15002, GH-15003, and GH-SGI-F-15120.

The strains GH-SGI-F-15002, GH-SGI-F-15003 and GH-SGI-F-15120 were each cultured and characterized in 2-L fed-batch fermentation. Samples for RNA were taken in mid-growth stage, several hours after initiation of lipid phase, and 1-2 days after initiation of lipid phase. Total RNA was extracted from each sample using the Ambion RiboPure™ RNA Purification Kit for yeast (Catalog # AM1926). PolyA-selected mRNA samples were prepared for next-generation RNA sequencing. The transcriptomics data generated from next-generation RNA sequencing was subsequently examined to identify genes that were highly expressed during 2-L fed-batch fermentation. The average sequencing coverage (FPKM), shown for 12 candidate strong promoters in TABLE 18, was a measure of relative transcriptional levels of the corresponding genes. It was observed that two of the genes for which lipogenic promoters were described previously in Example 9, NADH-ubiquinone reductase complex 1 MLRQ subunit (Nurp) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, type I (Gpdp) were also identified in this experiment. Also identified in this experiment were genes encoding subunits of the PUFA-PKS pathway (e.g., PfaA, PfaC) and several genes known to be involved in lipid biosynthesis and accumulation (e.g., GPAT1, DGAT, and Fas1p). The remaining eleven genes were not specifically involved in biosynthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids.

TABLE 18 Highly expressed genes identified from 2-L fermentation transcriptomics data. GH-15002 GH-15003 GH-SGI-F-15120 Gene Description Gene Name 10 h 30.5 h 46.5 h 10 h 30.5 h 46.5 h 28 h 45 h 71.5 h Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty pfaA 5698.1 5392.2 4812.3 3677.0 4961.1 3549.7 2667.5 7420.0 19565.3 acid synthase subunit, PfaA (3′ end) Lysophosphatidylcholine PLAT2 1359.5 3225.2 1957.7 962.2 3208.2 1713.6 1313.8 4907.1 4540.6 acyltransferase 1 Polyketide-type polyunsaturated pfaA 659.4 1256.4 951.2 643.2 1434.9 1166.6 2453.6 4856.7 3922.4 fatty acid synthase PfaA (5′ end) Actin beta/gamma 1 Actin 3415.7 2482.4 1239.2 2743.1 1976.6 1528.3 1240.9 1310.0 3218.1 Heat shock cognate 70 Hsp70 13797.1 5084.7 4251.0 8105.4 4650.8 4648.7 4500.7 2723.4 2958.8 Glutamine synthetase root isozyme 1 Gln-Syn 1156.4 1652.1 1204.6 473.6 1289.0 1199.5 143.9 2595.7 2375.7 P-loop containing nucleoside TEF 28986.2 10776.1 13253.1 27467.1 9094.0 11234.2 8086.2 2585.8 2137.3 triphosphate hydrolases Heat shock protein 90 Hsp90 7878.6 2729.6 2522.6 4440.3 2092.0 2252.5 3306.5 1815.6 2087.1 Actin depolymerizing proteins Act Depol 6107.8 6049.2 4432.3 6004.3 5982.4 4541.3 1758.3 1868.7 2058.7 40S ribosomal protein S3a Rps3a 13753.5 1853.8 4065.6 8564.3 1105.2 2365.0 6912.4 1865.1 2014.3 40S ribosomal protein S8 Rps8 34438.3 4873.7 9499.7 24796.7 3910.6 7059.5 4307.1 1308.2 1724.1 60S ribosomal protein L8 Rpl8 8484.9 1205.3 2481.3 6835.0 857.0 1842.8 3974.6 1245.2 1550.9 Voltage-dependent anion-selective Vac 5558.9 3977.5 2221.5 5954.1 4225.5 2584.0 2037.4 1614.1 1487.3 channel protein 3 isoform 1 Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty PfaC 737.7 1619.2 1136.1 827.5 1516.0 1477.9 1420.8 2879.1 1273.2 acid synthase subunit, PfaC (pfaC; DH) NADH-ubiquinone reductase Nurp 426.8 3946.1 1288.8 590.4 3507.6 1556.2 13.6 314.9 515.3 complex 1 MLRQ subunit Glycerol-3-phosphate GPAT1 134.4 190.0 125.8 90.8 207.3 124.0 101.1 424.7 514.5 acyltransferase 9 isoform 1 glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate Gpdp 959.8 1236.9 470.1 940.3 1170.1 538.6 604.9 664.9 428.3 dehydrogenase, type I Diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2B DGAT 74.6 102.4 76.8 54.1 91.0 66.2 37.0 54.9 56.9 FAS2_PENPA Fatty acid synthase Fas1p 126.6 319.5 145.8 113.3 220.7 205.8 64.2 92.7 46.8 subunit alpha Construction of Expression Vectors Carrying Constitutive Promoters Driving Expression of a Delta 17 Desaturase Gene.

Construction of pSGI-EO-001:

pSGI-EO-001 was the base vector that contained the Δ17 desaturase gene without a promoter. An AleI site was engineered at the start codon of the Δ17 desaturase gene to facilitated cloning of promoter sequences upstream of the reporter gene. The Δ17 desaturase gene is followed by the tdh3 terminator. This vector also carries the bsr marker gene for selection of chytrid transformants on Blasticidin.

Construction of pSGI-EO-003-013:

pSGI-EO-003-013 are plasmids where various potential promoter sequences (˜3 kb) from chytrid isolate SGI-i886 was cloned upstream of Δ17 desaturase. These constructs were generated by cloning a PCR product carrying the promoter sequence (amplified from genomic DNA using primers indicated in Table XYZ) into AleI-digested vector pSGI-EO-001 using Gibson Assembly® cloning. PCR-derived promoter sequences were all confirmed by MiSeq sequencing except for pSGI-EO-009 which was confirmed by Sanger sequencing.

pSGI-EO-014:

pSGI-EO-014 is a plasmid where the Gpdp promoter (SEQ ID NO:183) was cloned upstream of Δ17 desaturase. The promoter sequence was amplified using primers oSGI-JU-1797 & oSGI-JU-1809 from pSGI-JU-354, a plasmid into which the promoter had been previously cloned. The PCR-derived promoter sequence was confirmed by MiSeq sequencing.

pSGI-EO-027:

pSGI-EO-027 is a plasmid where the pfaA promoter was cloned upstream of Δ17 desaturase. The promoter sequence was amplified using primers oSGI-JU-1830 & oSGI-JU-1852 from pSM-20, a plasmid into which the promoter had been earlier cloned. The PCR-derived promoter sequence was confirmed by Sanger sequencing.

TABLE 19 Expression constructs carrying strong constitutive promoters identified by gene name and SEQ ID SEQ Construct Name Gene Name Promoter Length (bp) ID NO pSGI-EO-027 PfaA 3070 191 pSGI-EO-003 Hsp90 3073 192 pSGI-EO-004 Rps8 2942 193 pSGI-EO-005 Gln-syn 3112 194 pSGI-EO-006 Actin 3101 195 pSGI-EO-007 Hsp70 3063 196 pSGI-EO-008 Vac 3033 197 pSGI-EO-009 Plat2 3193 198 pSGI-EO-010 TEF 3017 199 pSGI-EO-011 Rps3a 2986 200 pSGI-EO-012 Rp18 2956 201 pSGI-EO-013 Act Depol 2918 202 pSGI-EO-014 Gpdp 3001 183

Each of the expression constructs listed in Table 19 was transformed into the ARA producing strain GH-15311 according to the transformation procedure described in Example 4 above. The ARA producing strain GH-15311 was a ΔPfaA chytrid strain transformed with three expression cassettes each of which carried coding sequences of elongase/desaturase (Elo/Des) fatty acid synthetic pathway genes. A brief description of the Elo/Des expression cassettes is shown in Table 20.

TABLE 20 Summary of elongase/desaturase gene cassettes introduced into the ARA producing strain GH-15311. The nucleotide sequences of Msfp promoter, Nurp promoter, and Nrfp promoter are provided in the Sequence Listing as SEQ ID NO: 186, SEQ ID NO: 182, and SEQ ID NO: 190, respectively. Cassettes promoter gene terminator marker Description pSGI-JU-353 Mfsp Δ12des13 pgk1t nptII Genes for conversion of C16:0 Nurp Δ9des14 eno2t to C18:2 (Linoleic acid) using Nrfp C16elo17 sv40t lipogenic promoters. pSGI-JU-354 Mfsp Δ5des2 pgk1t hph Genes for conversion of C18:2 Nurp Δ6elo6 eno2t (Linoleic acid) to EPA using Nrfp Δ6des9 sv40t lipogenic promoters. Gpdp ω3des23 tdh3t pSGI-JU-355 Mfsp Δ5des2 pgk1t hph Genes for conversion of C18:2 Nurp Δ6elo6 eno2t (Linoleic acid) to ARA using Nrfp Δ6des9 sv40t lipogenic promoters.

A summary of results from the transformation of the expression constructs listed in Table 19 into the ARA producing strain GH-15311 is presented in Table 21.

TABLE 21 Summary of experiments transforming the ARA producing strain GH-15311 with a gene encoding Δ17 desaturase placed under control of various strong constitutive promoters SEQ No. transformants Promoter ID NO: Construct Name examined PfaA 191 pSGI-EO-027 3 Hsp90 192 pSGI-EO-003 1 Rps8 193 pSGI-EO-004 6 Gln-syn 194 pSGI-EO-005 7 Actin 195 pSGI-EO-006 11 Hsp70 196 pSGI-EO-007 3 Vac 197 pSGI-EO-008 6 Plat2 198 pSGI-EO-009 6 TEF 199 pSGI-EO-010 1 Rps3a 200 pSGI-EO-011 6 Rpl8 201 pSGI-EO-012 6 Act depol 202 pSGI-EO-013 10 Gpdp 183 pSGI-EO-014 8

Transformants were examined for their ability to modulate PUFA production by using Micro-24 fermentation procedure. For each construct, at least 6 independent transformants were tested when possible. When fewer than 6 transformants were available, all transformants were tested. In the Micro-24 assays, the cells were grown to about half density in FM005 growth medium for approximately one day, then pelleted and resuspended in FM006 medium. The results (ARA and EPA titers) are shown in Figure Table 22.

TABLE 22 ARA and EPA contents (% TOC) of GH-15311 and transformants carrying a Δ17 desaturase gene placed under control of various promoters. Promoters used and transformant clone ID are indicated. Clone GH-15311 L and R were two cultures of background strain GH-15311 used as controls. Cultures were grown in growth medium (FM2; rich media) and transitioned to lipogenesis media (FM006; low N:C ratio). Samples were taken 72 hours after transition to lipogenesis medium and analyzed by GC-FAME. Strain/Promoter Transformant ID ARA EPA Control: 15311 L 20.14% 0.63% R 21.92% 0.45% Act Depol p3 #1 10.94% 2.45% (SEQ ID NO: 202) p3 #2 8.18% 0.77% p3 #6 8.21% 5.08% p3 #7 7.26% 3.43% Actin p1 #19 5.93% 5.93% (SEQ ID NO: 195) p1 #20 5.17% 6.79% p1 #22 11.21% 4.00% p1 #23 7.13% 3.61% p1 #24 9.83% 2.32% Gln-Syn p1 #12 9.68% 0.17% Gpdp p3 #10 0.15% 9.35% (SEQ ID NO: 183) p3 #11 1.70% 11.97% p3 #12 0.70% 8.06% Plat2 p2 #1 0.90% 11.59% (SEQ ID NO: 198) p2 #2 0.95% 8.61% p2 #3 1.05% 8.39% p2 #4 0.00% 6.91% p2 #5 0.84% 8.59% p2 #6 0.44% 16.41% Rpl8 p2 #23 12.91% 1.96% (SEQ ID NO: 201) p2 #24 6.31% 3.29% p2 #25 8.62% 0.35% p2 #26 5.53% 5.26% p2 #27 11.08% 1.18% p2 #28 18.30% 2.08% Rps3a p2 #17 16.24% 5.47% (SEQ ID NO: 200) p2 #18 15.46% 3.95% p2 #19 6.29% 4.50% p2 #20 4.14% 14.81% p2 #21 9.76% 8.80% p2 #22 8.58% 2.58% Rps8 p1 #6 2.17% 7.31% (SEQ ID NO: 193) p1 #7 6.77% 4.29% p1 #8 2.78% 8.04% p1 #9 11.22% 8.86% p1 #10 1.11% 8.86% p1 #11 15.23% 2.13% TEF p2 #12 3.60% 17.94% (SEQ ID NO: 199)

TABLE 23 ARA and EPA contents (% TOC) of GH-15311 and chytrid transformants carrying a Δ17 desaturase gene placed under control of various promoters. Promoters used and transformant clone ID are indicated. Clone EO01C6 was a no promoter control. Cultures were grown in growth medium (FM2; rich media) and transitioned to lipogenesis media (FM006; low N:C ratio). Samples were taken 72 hours after transition to lipogenesis medium and analyzed by GC-FAME. Strain/Promoter Transformant ID ARA EPA — 15311 20.14% 0.63% — EO01C6 21.92% 0.45% hsp90 EO03C1 10.94% 2.45% Gln-syn EO05C12 8.18% 0.77% EO05C13 8.21% 5.08% EO05C14 7.26% 3.43% EO05C3 5.93% 5.93% EO05C8 5.17% 6.79% EO05C9 11.21% 4.00% actin EO06C10 7.13% 3.61% EO06C11 9.83% 2.32% EO06C4 9.68% 0.17% EO06C5 0.15% 9.35% EO06C6 1.70% 11.97% EO06C7 0.70% 8.06% hsp70 EO07C4 0.90% 11.59% EO07C6 0.95% 8.61% EO07JC1 1.05% 8.39% vac EO08JC1 0.00% 6.91% EO08JC2 0.84% 8.59% EO08JC3 0.44% 16.41% EO08JC4 12.91% 1.96% EO08JC6 6.31% 3.29% EO08JC7 8.62% 0.35% act depol EO13C11 5.53% 5.26% EO13C7 11.08% 1.18% EO13C9 18.30% 2.08% EO13JC1 16.24% 5.47% EO13JC2 15.46% 3.95% EO13JC3 6.29% 4.50% gpdp EO14JC1 4.14% 14.81% EO14JC3 9.76% 8.80% EO14JC4 8.58% 2.58% EO14JC6 2.17% 7.31% EO14JC7 6.77% 4.29% pfaA EO27C4 2.78% 8.04% EO27C6 11.22% 8.86% EO27C8 1.11% 8.86%

As shown in Tables 22 and 23, it was observed that most of the ARA is converted to EPA in strains expressing Δ17 desaturase using promoter sequences corresponding to the Gpdp, Plat2, TEF, Hsp90, Hsp70, Vac, and PfaA genes. Most of the other promoter constructs resulted in some conversion of ARA to EPA indicating that they are active but likely not as strong. Under lipogenic conditions, the Plat2 promoter (SEQ ID NO:198) and the pfaA promoter (SEQ ID NO:191) demonstrated strong activity along with the previously assessed Nurp promoter (SEQ ID NO:182), Gpdp promoter (SEQ ID NO:183), and Msfp promoter (SEQ ID NO:186) which also demonstrated strong activity under lipogenic culture conditions.

While particular alternatives of the present disclosure have been disclosed, it is to be understood that various modifications and combinations are possible and are contemplated within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims. There is no intention, therefore, of limitations to the exact abstract and disclosure herein presented. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A nucleic acid construct comprising a nucleic acid sequence that comprises a promoter, wherein the nucleic acid sequence exhibits at least 95% sequence identity to at least 650 contiguous nucleotides from the 3′ end of a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:196, and SEQ ID NO:199; wherein the promoter is operably linked to a heterologous nucleic acid sequence.
 2. The nucleic acid construct of claim 1, wherein said nucleic acid sequence exhibits at least 95% sequence identity to a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:196, and SEQ ID NO:199.
 3. The nucleic acid construct of claim 1, wherein the nucleic acid sequence exhibits at least 98% sequence identity to at least 650 contiguous nucleotides from the 3′ end of a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:196, and SEQ ID NO:199.
 4. The nucleic acid construct of claim 3, wherein the nucleic acid sequence exhibits at least 99% sequence identity to at least 650 contiguous nucleotides from the 3′ end of a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:196, and SEQ ID NO:199.
 5. The nucleic acid construct of claim 1, wherein the promoter is functional in a Schizochytrium or Aurantiochytrium cell.
 6. The nucleic acid construct of claim 1, wherein said heterologous nucleic acid sequence encodes a polypeptide or a functional RNA.
 7. The nucleic acid construct of claim 6, wherein said heterologous nucleic acid sequence encodes a functional RNA selected from: a ribosomal RNA, a tRNA, a ribozyme, a transactivating (tr) RNA of a CRISPR system, a crispr (cr) RNA of a CRISPR system, a chimeric guide RNA of a CRISPR system, a micro RNA, an interfering RNA (RNAi) molecule, a short hairpin (sh) RNA, or an antisense RNA molecule.
 8. The nucleic acid construct of claim 1, wherein said heterologous nucleic acid sequence is operably linked to a terminator.
 9. The nucleic acid construct of claim 8, wherein the terminator comprises a sequence having at least 90% sequence identity to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:71-78.
 10. The nucleic acid construct of claim 1, wherein the promoter is functional in a Labyrinthulomycetes cell.
 11. The nucleic acid construct of claim 6, wherein said construct is further defined as an expression cassette or a vector.
 12. The nucleic acid construct of claim 6, wherein the heterologous nucleic acid sequence encodes a transcription factor, DNA binding protein, splicing factor, nuclease, a cas protein, a recombinase, a G protein, a nucleotide cyclase, a phosphodiesterase, a kinase, a polypeptide of that participates in protein secretion or protein trafficking, a structural protein, a hormone, a cytokine, an antibody, a transporter, an enzyme having lypolytic activity, a thioesterase, an amidase, a lipase, a fatty acid synthase or a component of a fatty acid synthase complex, a pfaA, pfaB, pfaC, pfaD, or pfaE polypeptide, an acyl-CoA synthetase, an acyl-ACP synthetase, an acyl carrier protein, an acyl-CoA carboxylase, an acyl transferase, an enzyme that participates in glycolysis, a dehydrogenase, an enzyme of the TCA cycle, a fatty acid desaturase, or a fatty acid elongase.
 13. The nucleic acid construct of claim 6, wherein said heterologous nucleic acid sequence comprises a selectable marker or a reporter gene.
 14. The nucleic construct of claim 13, wherein said selectable marker gene is selected from the group consisting of a gene conferring resistance to an antibiotic, a gene conferring resistance to an herbicide, a gene encoding acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACCase), a gene encoding acetohydroxy acid synthase (ahas), a gene encoding acetolactate synthase, a gene encoding aminoglycoside phosphotransferase, a gene encoding anthranilate synthase, a gene encoding bromoxynil nitrilase, a gene encoding cytochrome P450-NADH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase, a gene encoding dalapon dehalogenase, a gene encoding dihydropteroate synthase, a gene encoding a class I 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), a gene encoding a class II EPSPS (aroA), a gene encoding a non-class I II EPSPS, a gene encoding glutathione reductase, a gene encoding glyphosate acetyltransferase, a gene encoding glyphosate oxidoreductase, a gene encoding hydroxyphenylpyruvate dehydrogenase, a gene encoding hydroxy-phenylpyruvate dioxygenase, a gene encoding isoprenyl pyrophosphate isomerase, a gene encoding lycopene cyclase, a gene encoding phosphinothricin acetyl transferase, a gene encoding phytoene desaturase, a gene encoding prenyl transferase, a gene encoding protoporphyrin oxidase, a gene encoding superoxide dismutase, arg7, his3, hisD, hisG, manA, nitl, trpB, uidA, xylA, a dihydrofolate reductase gene, a mannose-6-phosphate isomerase gene, a nitrate reductase gene, an ornithine decarboxylase gene, a thymidine kinase gene, a 2-deoxyglucose resistance gene; and an R-locus gene.
 15. A method of transforming a eukaryotic cell, comprising: (i) introducing into a eukaryotic cell the nucleic acid construct of claim 6; and (ii) selecting or screening for a transformed eukaryotic cell.
 16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the nucleic acid molecule is introduced by a biolistic procedure or electroporation.
 17. A recombinant cell comprising the nucleic acid construct of claim
 1. 18. The recombinant cell of claim 17, wherein said nucleic acid construct is stably integrated into the genome of said recombinant cell.
 19. The recombinant cell of claim 17, wherein the recombinant cell belongs to the class Labyrinthulomycetes.
 20. The recombinant cell of claim 19, wherein said labyrinthulomycetes microorganism is an Aplanochytrium, an Aurantiochytrium, a Diplophrys, a Japonochytrium, an Oblongichytrium, a Schizochytrium, a Thraustochytrium, or an Ulkenia microorganism.
 21. The nucleic acid construct of claim 1, wherein said nucleic acid sequence exhibits at least 95% sequence identity to: at least 800 contiguous nucleotides from the 3′ end of the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:196 or at least 800 contiguous nucleotides from the 3′ end of the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:199. 